September 2022 - Fluted Cape, Bruni Island

Philip had nominated the Fluted Cape walk for this month, at the southern end of Adventure Bay, Bruny Island. This is one of the Great Short Walks of Tassie. We'd done it before: October 2013. Di organised an overnight accommodation option in anticipation of a group of us opting to avoid the Sunday evening ferry crush. Kat pulled together the final walk instructions.

Then it happened that we had an unusual number of regulars who were unable to make it, due to factors such as long weekend commitments, absences interstate etc such that in the end there were only three walkers on the day and a good friend at hand to help out with our transport logistics.

The walkers this month were Di, Angie and John W. We had good weather for this changeable time of year - it was mostly overcast and cool, with slight attempts at showers but nothing very serious. We met in the carpark at 12.30pm and headed off along the beach.

The first part of the trail has had some improvement lately, but it was a bit sobering to see the beginnings of residential development along the headland here. Soon we were at the start of the national park:

We wandered over sites where whaling had been in full operation from about 1829. Little is left to see now beyond some clearings down to the shoreline and the remnants of stone walls that had once formed parts of buildings. Angie pointed the archaeological evidence out to us.

The track had a few muddy patches due to recent rains, but we soon made it to Grass Point, the end of the flat section of the trail. As we were sitting munching our lunches, we spotted some shapes moving in the water off Penguin Island. Seals were waving at us!

After lunch, John retraced his steps back to the beach, while Angie and Di turned and headed up towards Fluted Cape. It was pretty uppish for a long while. Lovely dry sheoak woodlands though, and lots of great views.

Even on a cool day the climb is a nice challenge, and we were glad we had brought water with us. The downward section was a great relief, despite the many exposed tree roots due to weathering. We got back to the carpark at about 4pm, the walk (with stops) having taken us a total of 3.5 hours. The total walk was about 7km, with total rises of 309m.

It was nice to have Barb whisk us away for a well earned cuppa and a debrief over the photos of the walk. Angie, Di and Barb stayed overnight to make the most of the visit to beautiful Bruny.