Bruny Island – Yum!

On our last full day in Hobart, a Saturday, Andy and I booked a tour of Bruny Island. Not just any tour, either – a culinary tour! Bruny Island is a short ferry trip off the south-eastern coast of Tasmania, but you have to drive about an hour to get to the ferry terminal.

We met up with our tour guide, Susie, down by the waterfront in Hobart early on Saturday. Normally, the tours can have up to thirty or more people, but we were very lucky to just have one other woman on ours. Basically a personal tour! There was plenty of space to stretch out in the ten-seater van as we made the trip south from Hobart.

We arrived in Kettering and parked on the ferry, which shortly departed toward Bruny Island. The harbor reminded me of a Tasmanian Maine. It’s funny how the more you travel, the more places remind you of other places. I guess we always tend to relate new things to what we know.

We really lucked out with weather, since the other days in Hobart had been a bit unpredictable.

Less than fifteen minutes later, we docked at Bruny.

Bruny Island is home to around 600 permanent residents and lots of day-trippers and weekenders. It’s a good-sized island – 362 square kilometers (140 square miles) in total. Here’s a map to put it in perspective.

It’s all one island joined by a narrow spit, but the two parts are known as North Bruny and South Bruny. We drove south from the port on North Bruny and made our way towards “The Neck.” Since we had such a small tour group and were able to depart earlier than normal, we also managed to beat the rest of the island tourists and have the lookout to ourselves for a little bit.

At least we fit in a little exercise before all the food we’d be eating.

Just look at this view!

That’s South Bruny at the other end of the spit.

And that’s North Bruny.

I’d never seen anything like this. Wow! The color of the water certainly gives NZ some competition.

We got a couple snaps as the other tourists closed in.

I would looove to come back and take advantage of those pristine beaches sometime. But for now, we were off to have our first culinary treat of the day! See ya, fellow tourists!

Our first stop was the fabulous Bruny Island Cheese Co. It is never too early in the day for cheese.

And who wouldn’t want to sample a cheese named Tom?

We got to try four different ones, and learned quite a bit from the owner in the process. Everything is made on site and by hand. Oh, and did I mention it’s all delicious? It was too bad we couldn’t bring any back home considering the strict customs regulations.

I think this is what Heaven looks like.

Farewell, cheese paradise!

Next up, well… the name speaks for itself.

Get Shucked Oyster Farm has to be one of the best names for an oyster spot. Just like cheese, it’s never too early in the day for oysters!

This tour definitely didn’t disappoint with all that was included. The servings everywhere were pretty generous, and we each got six whole oysters at this spot! Here’s the before shot…

And after!

Definitely the best oysters I’ve ever had. Posting these pictures is making me drool.

Much more to come, so I’ll save the second half for another post. I don’t want to make anyone TOO hungry all in one go. See you soon!