Cycling around Bruny Island on an e-bike

Located only half an hour drive (then 15 minute boat) from Hobart, is the beautiful, rural Bruny Island. If you are looking for a spot off the general tourist path in Tasmania, as well as wanting to enjoy local commerce and beautiful landscapes, Bruny Island is a must stop for your Tasmania road trip! As most car rental companies won’t allow their cars on the ferry (you will lose the insurance if you go on it), and we wanted to enjoy Bruny Island at a leisurely pace, we decided to explore the island by bike. In this post I will describe our experience of cycling around Bruny Island on an e-bike.

Hiring bikes with Cycle Bruny Island

We hired e-bikes through Cycle Bruny Island. Prior to this I had never been on an e-bike, so I was super happy to discover just how much the bike assists you whilst you cycle (especially on hills). We cycled a total of 77km around Bruny Island and I’m not sure I could have managed it without the e-bike.

Rob at Cycle Bruny Island was a fountain of knowledge about Bruny Island, answering all our questions about the terrain, where to cycle and must see stops.

Getting to Bruny Island

You will need to drive to Kettering from Hobart (about 30 minutes). You can then park near the ferry terminal (there is a fair amount of free parking). We then met Rob opposite the ferry terminal to collect the bikes and bought our return ticket to Bruny Island (6$ with a bike). The ferry generally leaves every hour, make sure you check the schedule.

Things to do on Bruny Island

1) Cape Queen Elizabeth (the arch)

We started the day cycling straight to Cape Queen Elizabeth to see the arch. The majority of the cycle is on the main paved road so it’s a nice easy cycle. Make sure you are the last one off the ferry and then you won’t have to worry about any cars for an hour (or until the next ferry). We hardly saw any cars so it was a very pleasant cycle.

Once you get to the start of the path, unlike those with cars who will need to walk 3 hours return to the arch, you can cycle for about half of it. The bikes have built in locks so we left them safely behind before starting the walk over the dunes.

TOP TIP – If you want to visit the arch make sure you come at low tide so that you can safely walk past the cliffs.

2) The Neck

Our next stop was the iconic viewpoint at the neck which looks out over the south part of Bruny Island.

The Neck viewpoint gives beautiful views over the thin part of the island joining north to south, and allows you to see the ocean on either side of the island.

TOP TIP – Come at sunrise or sunset to see penguins (on the beach near the viewpoint)! and if you’re really lucky you might even get to see some bioluminescent plankton.

3) Adventure Bay

Unfortunately we didn’t have time to cycle to Adventure Bay, but this is where you will find a lot of accommodation/restaurants as well as white wallabies!

4) Enjoy the local commerce

Another must do on Bruny Island is visiting the local shops. These include:

• Chocolate
• Honey
• Oysters
• Beer and Cheese
• Whiskey

I am of moderate fitness level and had never cycled more than 25km in one day so I was super happy to have cycled over 77km in less than 24 hours! Not sure i could have done it without an e-bike! Cycle Bruny Island offer touring bikes, mountain e-bikes and hybrid e-bikes, head to their website for more information and to book your bike!

I hope you have an amazing time enjoying the tranquility and wildlife of Bruny Island.

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