Bruny Island Roads and Wildlife

Driving on Bruny Island means gravel, one fuel stop and wallabies on the road at dusk. If you plan to drive yourself, this is what to know before you roll off the ferry. If you would rather leave it to a guide, the Bruny Island guided tours handle the driving.

Sealed and gravel: what the roads are like

The Parks and Wildlife Service describes the island's roads as sealed and unsealed, and asks you to take care on the gravel. The main road runs from the ferry at Roberts Point south over The Neck to Adventure Bay, Alonnah and Lunawanna. The last stretch to Cape Bruny Lighthouse is 20 km of Lighthouse Road.

Bruny Tourism warns that your map app will get the times wrong. It does not know about the gravel or the wallabies, and in places it cannot guide you at all. Allow more time than it gives you. If you rent a car, check your hire terms on unsealed roads before you cross.

Two more rules from Bruny Tourism: you drive on the left, and you let locals past. A slow visitor can hold up someone trying to make the ferry, so pull over when you can.

Fuel, cash and supplies

The island has one fuel stop and no cash machine. Sort both before you cross:

• Fill the tank: the only fuel on the island is at the Adventure Bay General Store.
• Bring a card and some cash: there is no ATM on the island, the Parks and Wildlife Service says; carry cash if you camp.
• Buy your parks pass: you need one in South Bruny National Park, including the lighthouse grounds.
• Pack food for the day: the hike's operator warns that lunch options on the island are limited; the Adventure Bay and Alonnah stores sell supplies.

Driving at dawn and dusk

That matters most on the way home. A day on the island ends right when the wildlife comes out, and the drive back to the ferry from the lighthouse is over an hour. Leave in good time.

White wallabies: where and when

Bruny Island is known for its white wallabies, a pale form of Bennett's wallaby. The Parks and Wildlife Service says they feed in the paddocks around the Fluted Cape entrance to South Bruny National Park at dusk.

You also see ordinary Bennett's wallabies, pademelons and brushtail possums all over the island, Bruny Tourism says, and often an echidna beside the walking track. There are no Tasmanian devils: they never made the crossing. Several land tours look for a white wallaby along the way, but none can promise one.

Penguins and shearwaters at The Neck

Little penguins and short-tailed shearwaters nest in burrows at The Neck. If you stay on the island to watch them come ashore after dark, follow Bruny Tourism's rules:

1. Keep your distance. Their nests are often out of sight, and easy to trample.
2. Use a red-light torch. Many island businesses hand out red cellophane for your torch.
3. Never use a camera flash. It can hurt and scare the birds.
4. Stay on the boardwalk. Tread lightly around every dune.

Snakes on the walking tracks

Three snakes live on Bruny Island: the tiger snake, the copperhead and the white-lipped whipsnake. All three are venomous, Bruny Tourism says. Watch the track when you walk, above all in the bush, and wear closed shoes.

They will leave you alone if you leave them alone. Step back, give them room, and let them move off the path.

If you find injured wildlife

If you hit an animal, or find one hurt by the road, stop only where it is safe. Then call one of the two numbers Bruny Tourism gives:

Wildlife incidents hotline:

1300 827 727

Bonorong Wildlife Rescue:

0447 264 625

Save both in your phone before you cross, so you are not searching for them at the roadside.

Driving times on the island

Distances look short on the map, but the times below are the official ones, not a map app's. Use them to plan the day backwards from the ferry.

Kettering is about 40 minutes from Hobart by the Parks and Wildlife Service's figure; Bruny Tourism says half an hour, and Pennicott 45 minutes. The crossing itself is on getting to Bruny Island.

Driving yourself or taking a tour

With your own car you pay the vehicle fare on the ferry and a vehicle parks pass, and you drive the gravel yourself. You also set your own hours, which is how you see the penguins or the lighthouse at sunset.

On a tour, the guide drives, the ferry is part of the day, and on most days the parks pass is in the fare. You are back in Hobart before the roads turn risky. See what each fare covers on the visitor guide.

Questions about driving

Where these facts come from

The roads, fuel, cash, night driving and white wallabies are the Parks and Wildlife Service Tasmania's own, checked 21 September 2026. The driving advice, the penguin rules, the snakes and the two wildlife numbers are Bruny Tourism's. The Adventure Bay time is Pennicott's.

• South Bruny National Park (Parks and Wildlife Service Tasmania)
• Cape Bruny Lighthouse (Parks and Wildlife Service Tasmania)
• Roads and Wildlife (Bruny Tourism)
• Flora and Fauna (Bruny Tourism)
• Useful Links (Bruny Tourism)
• Bruny Island Cruises: times and tour options (Pennicott Wilderness Journeys)

Days when someone else does the driving

Bruny Island - Wild Escapes From Hobart

A small group of up to ten from Hobart, with oyster, cheese and honey stops, the lookout over the isthmus and time in the south of the island. The guide keeps an eye out for white wallabies; lunch is a stop at your own cost.

From $130 per person

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Ultimate Full-Day Bruny Island Inc Exclusive Lighthouse Tour

Hotel pickup from over 20 places around Hobart, then morning tea on the beach, lunch, tastings and a guided climb inside the lighthouse. The ferry and the national park entry are in the fare, and the guides know where the white wallabies graze.

From $199 per person

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2 Day Tasmanian Highlights Tour - Bruny Island & Port Arthur

Two days from Hobart: Port Arthur and its harbour cruise on the first, the island on the second, as far as the lighthouse grounds. Hotel pickup, admissions and national park passes are in the fare; lunch is not.

From $224 per person

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