Bruny Island - Professional Writing Services

Image: Kingstons Shack from the water

9 March 2026
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The Shack at Stiffys Creek

I found Nic at Hobart Airport on a bright sunny Friday morning full of happy energy and smiles, excited about our 10 day visit to the Apple Isle. We’d both traveled with our hiking packs ready for our 4 day hike along the Three Capes Track starting Wednesday but had the days in the lead up to explore Bruny Island and the Tasman Peninsula.

Nic’s fabulous friend Susie cruised up in her Mini Clubman looking every bit the sassy lady that she is. The car was loaded with fancy booze and tasty food for our weekend at Susie’s shack at Dennes Beach on Bruny Island, so off we went. Woot woot!

Walking up a path leading to a beach front shack with a large tree dominating the scene — *The Shack* – *looking south*

A view from the path of a boathouse and boatramp leading into the ocean on a nice bright day — *The Boatshed – same spot, looking north*

Susie and her husband bought their 1970s shack at the northern tip of Bruny Island in 1995, adding to it over the years to accommodate grandkids and maximise the social space. Today it’s still basic but very functional and comfortable with a fantastic outdoor entertaining area. The shack is located on Stiffys Creek and the resident mannequin is named “Stiff-fanny”.

An outdoor entertaining area of a shack by the ocean with a mannequin in the corner to scare intruders — *stylish Stiff-fanny keeping an eye on things*

A screenshot of Google Maps showing a creek shaped like an erect penis called Stiffys Creek — *Google maps – Stiffys Creek*

Nic and I had the best time with Susie at the shack and could have stayed longer. We had typical Tassie weather with Friday sunny and warm, Saturday grey and cold, and Sunday bright and brisk. Susie was an excellent tour guide and the most amazing host. We learnt a lot about the practicalities of Bruny Island – water is trucked in, you need to take your rubbish with you, the internet is patchy and you really need to plan ahead cause the shops are very limited in stock and opening times.

With the sun shining we started our Friday road trip with fresh oysters and local wine at Great Bay. The oysters were so good, I’m not sure I’ll be able to eat oysters from anywhere else again!

Looking out a driveway from behind a low hedge to a sparkling blue ocean on a bright sunny day — *Great Bay – oyster location*

A plate of oysters and 2 glasses of alcohol on a small table with greenery and the ocean in the distance — *Oyster lunch*

We climbed up to Truganini Lookout at The Neck and learnt all about an isthmus – “a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated”.

A raised walking path ambles towards a yellow sandy beach on a bright blue day — *Blighs Rocks Beach*

A view of the landscape from a highpoint on an isthmus, showing the separation of the water bodies — *The Neck – isthmus in action*

A little further south, we drove into Adventure Bay which is the main village on Bruny Island with a small supermarket, petrol available, a campground and tourist activities. Interestingly, records show Abel Tasman attempted to land in the bay in 1642 but was prevented by stormy seas, and curiously, from about 1650 to 1798, seafarers thought of the area as a place to source fresh water, well before Captain Cook sighted the East Coast of Australia in 1770. [Source]

A white sandy beach, with a forested headland on a bright blue day — *Adventure Bay*

Two friends following a forest path down to a white sandy beach on a sunny day — *Adventure Bay*

All the busyness of being tourists and the sunshine, blue sky and soft clear blue water was enough to convince us we needed a swim. But by golly, it was cold!

A selfie of two women swimming in the ocean on a sunny day — *Enjoying a COLD swim*

On Saturday, we rugged up for the drizzle and wind as we ventured further south to South Bruny Island. First off we found the Bruny Baker Bread Fridge which involves roadside retro refrigerators full of fresh sourdough bread, fruit cinnamon bread and biscuits and an honesty system. The fridges work well because the bread was still warm. No gluten free options… yet.

A woman showing off her fresh bread sourced from an old refrigerator on the side of the road — *The retro fridge gluten shop*

Paper bags filled with fresh loaves of bread inside an old refrigerator — *The toasty warm produce*

We then stopped in Lunawanna for a hot drink to warm us up. Fun fact: Lunawanna-alonna is the Tasmanian Aboriginal name for Bruny Island, with the tiny township of Alonna 5km north of Lunawanna. While enjoying our hot drinks we observed a houseboat moored on a dam and pondered if that was a clever way to avoid a tax of some sort or just someone being a bit particular.

A houseboat moored on a dam — *Houseboat on a dam*

From there we drove all the way to the south-western edge of the south island to see Cape Bruny Lighthouse – the 2nd oldest lighthouse tower still standing in Australia (after the Macquarie Lighthouse in Vaucluse, Sydney), and the longest continually manned lighthouse in Australia (158 years), including one stint of +37 years by Captain Hawkins from 1877. As with lots of places in Tassie, Cape Bruny is very isolated. The intrepidness involved in living permanently at the site before phones, electricity, motorised transport, etc is very difficult for me to comprehend.

There was a tiny museum to poke through and a nice walk up to the lighthouse itself with views of the fascinating dolerite cliffs and the rough Tasman Sea.

A view from a lighthouse back over the Lighthouse Keeper's house, a large bay and mountains in the distance — *View east from Cape Bruny Lighthouse*

A woman standing in front of an old white lighthouse on a cold, blustery day — *Susie & the Lighthouse*

We then took the Clubman off road to Jetty Beach for a walk in the bush and a wander along beach – I wasn’t tempted to swim. Our final stop was a walk down to Cloudy Bay Lagoon where we foraged for big healthy mussels which Nic later made into a scrumptiously fresh dinner.

2 women walking down a path to a deserted white sandy beach on a grey, cold day — *Jetty Beach*

A selfie of 3 friends on a white sandy beach on a cold day — *The happy adventurers*

A woman holding freshly foraged mussels in her hands standing on a rock in a lagoon — *Muscles with mussels*

A lagoon surrounded by forest on a bleak day — *Cloudy Bay Lagoon*

From above, a woman holding a large pot of mussels on the stove — *Cooking up the mussels – yummo*

A bowl of mussels, a cheese board and 2 bottles of wine on a table with a large tree and the ocean in the background — *Mussel dinner*

Susie splits her time between Hobart and the shack and has some wonderful neighbours on Bruny who are a mix of permanent residents and part timers. Most afternoons the neighbours wander over for sunset drinkies and nibbles, sharing their stories of the day and generally relishing in their fabulous lifestyle and the beauty of Tassie. It was terrific to relax and be grateful for all the good things in life with a perfect view of the day’s end.

A group of friends sitting on comfortable chairs, enjoying a cheese plate and wine while watching the sunset over the ocean — *Sunset drinkies*

A woman sitting on a comfortable outdoor lounge with the ocean and mountains behind her, and the sun slowly setting — *Nic enjoying life*

The same crew of wonderful neighbours call themselves the Dunkers because every morning, no matter the season or the weather, they have a dunk in the ocean. So of course Nic and I had to participate, sticking it out in the water for about 10mins at 10am with the Dunkers who were available that day. It was a great experience with some really lovely people. Note, to ABC Back Roads viewers, keep an eye out for the Dunkers in a Tassie episode in mid-2026.

A group of friends swimming in very cold ocean water on a bleak day — *Dunkers dunking*

A group of friends wrapped in towels standing on a beach after a very cold morning swim in the ocean — *Dunkers drying*

In standard dramatic fashion for me, I discovered a new health issue to add to my catalogue – cold-induced urticaria – a type of chronic hives triggered by exposure to cold. Despite having enjoyed very cold swims, including in glacier lakes and rivers, all over the world, I’ve never had access to a warm shower post-swim before. So it was quite a shock after having a lovely warm shower after the Dunkers swim I broke out in giant red sore and itchy hives all over my body. Fortunately Nurse Nic consulted Dr Google and loaded me up with some heavy dose antihistamines which relieved the pain within 10mins and my skin slowly got back to normal over the next few hours.I was still able to enjoy the day, including sunset drinks. Phew!!!

We finished our stay at Susie’s with a walk along Dennes Beach Heritage Trail which had interesting information about the white settlers/invaders, whaling and Bruny Island. As a nice bonus, we saw a fluffy echidna ambling along – so cute.

Two friends smiling at the camera at the northern tip of an island with a rocky beach nearby and rolling hills in the distance — *Dennes Point*

An echidna hidden in long yellow flowering grass — *Echidna*

Susie was very generous and drove us back to Hobart Airport where we were meeting Emma, Chloe and Amanda for the next section of our Tassie adventure. It was sad to say goodbye to Susie but we were already thinking when we could go back to visit again.

A woman sitting on a high stool at an outdoor bar with the ocean and mountains behind her, and the sun slowly setting — *One last look at the fabulous view*

Additional photo credits to Nic

Tasmania