We left home nice and early today to get to the 10 o’clock ferry to Bruny Island.  It took almost an hour to drive there but the journey was not difficult. We drove through beautiful country and enjoyed every minute of it.  We got to Kettering about 15 minutes early , so bought a coffee each and a tea for me from the cafe at the ferry entry.  Waiting in line we did get to see Norman Coburn – “Donald Fisher” from Home and Away fame, who currently lives on Bruny Island with his wife Tina.

Once we had arrived on Bruny Island we went on a lovely drive along the main route around Bruny Island and we made our way to Adventure Bay on the south west  coast and we stopped at Penguin Cafe which faced the coast. It was here that we had morning tea, in a very cosy and comfortable coffee shop.

After our morning tea and a decent wander on the beach, the sand is pristine and it is hard and wet underfoot.  Birds’ footprints, shells and wave prints covered the surface of the sand.  We walked for some time with me taking photos of water, birds and landscapes. It was then time to return to the car parked at the #Penguin_Cafe to drive through the Mt Mangana Forest Reserve. The road was designated 4WD but it looked OK and we decided we could turn back if it got’ iffy’. It was 9 kms at about 40kms an hour or less, through magnificent forest. It was just beautiful, fresh and tropical in parts with tree ferns along the edge of the road.  The straight eucalypts towered above us as we drove. Sun was filtered onto the road and flashed in our eyes as we rounded the corners. The clay under the tyres crunched but was moist and sticky. It was sheer good fortune that there were no cars coming the other way.  It was a tense drive with all six eyes on the road for the entire drive.  When we finally popped out at the other end we were just a few minutes from our lunch venue.

Next stop was the winery for lunch and our waitress recommended the day’s special, braised lamb leg with Polenta with cauliflower, beans, cherry tomatoes, with a red wine jus.  It really was beautiful.