I’d been looking forward to today for a long time. Our plan was to explore Bruny Island, a small island south of Hobart. We drove a quick 30 minutes before catching the short ferry to the island.

Once on the island, we drove to the southeast side of the island to hike the Fluted Cape Trail.

The trail started along the beach before turning inland through forests with some impressive trees.

We hiked steadily upward for about an hour before reaching the cliffs, which were much more impressive than my camera zooming skills.

In fact, the cliffs are almost 900 feet tall at their highest point. The trail then started to descend along the cliffs, passing huge stone columns.

It was slow going as the trail traced along the edge of the cliff, mostly because we *had* to keep stopping to look at the views and huge stone towers.

Looking down toward the water, we could see the series of small bays that give the Fluted Cape its name.

Looking further in the distance we could see the Neck — the narrow strip of land that connects the north half of Bruny Island to the south. Further in the distance, we could see Mount Wellington, which looms over Hobart. We kept hiking, dropping elevation and enjoying the views back towards the cliffs we’d been sitting atop earlier in our hike.

Eventually, we reached the bottom, where we found a small cove. I was impressed by the huge pieces of seaweed that had washed up on the rocks.

We spent a few mesmerizing minutes watching the waves crash.

We explored the cove a bit more, and Julie found a tree covered in shells by previous hikers. With Christmas looming (at least in Julie’s mind and Netflix history), she took a few minutes to add her own decorations.

We next drove to the Bruny Island Lighthouse at the far south end of the island. Along the way, we ate a luxurious lunch of peanut butter and jelly. We also spotted a surprisingly fluffy echidna. It turns out there’s a special subspecies in Tasmania with extra fur to handle the cold winters.

After driving for about an hour, half of which was on a dirt road, we soon reached the lighthouse, which was built in 1836, relatively early in Tasmania’s history. Indeed, it’s the second oldest still-standing lighthouse in Australia.

From the lighthouse we enjoyed beautiful views of rocky coastline. We next drove to the Neck, where we climbed 248 steps to get a good view of Bruny’s itty-bitty waistline. In the distance (to the left in the photo below) we could see the Fluted Cape where we’d been hiking that morning.

Between the hike, the lighthouse, and the Neck, we’d worked up an appetite and were ready for our last couple of stops on Bruny. To start, the pristine waters around Bruny produce some incredible oysters, and we’d been talking about trying them for days. We headed to Get Schucked, a local place that specializes in oysters, beer, and wine. We opted for a Tasmanian sparkling wine from a vineyard we’d passed yesterday (Devil’s Corner). It all surpassed all our expectations.

Our last stop for the day was the Bruny Island Beer and Cheese Company. With a name like that, what’s not to like?!

We tried a taster flight of beer and a cheese platter. Once again, all of it was local, and all of it was delicious. From here, we headed back to the ferry.

It was a nearly perfect day. Somehow this part of Tasmania is wild and indulgent at the same time. Incredible.

-Will