Bruny Island
— — two islands held together by a thread of sand.
Not only on a wall.
“A long island off the southeast coast of Tasmania, split into a north half and a south half by a narrow isthmus called The Neck. The ferry runs from Kettering across the D'Entrecasteaux Channel, fifteen minutes each way. The south end carries the Cape Bruny lighthouse, the tall eucalypt forests, and the cliffs that drop straight into the Southern Ocean; the north end is farm country and oyster leases. Wallabies come down to the road at dusk. The light over the channel reads cool and silver, the way southern island light tends to read. from the studio
Bruny Island, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Bruny Island lies off the southeast coast of Tasmania, separated from the main island by the D'Entrecasteaux Channel. It runs roughly 100 kilometres from north to south and consists of two landmasses — North Bruny and South Bruny — joined by a narrow sand isthmus called The Neck. The 2021 census counted a permanent population of roughly 900. The island sits within the Kingborough local government area, and the southern half is protected as South Bruny National Park. The name comes from the French explorer Bruni d'Entrecasteaux, who charted the channel in 1792.
Cape Bruny Lighthouse stands on the southern tip, completed in 1838 and the second-oldest extant lighthouse tower in Australia. The original keepers ran the light by sperm-whale oil and then kerosene until automation in 1996. The cape catches the full force of the Roaring Forties — the westerly wind belt that sweeps the Southern Ocean — and the cliffs below the light drop straight into open sea. On a clear evening the western sky over the channel runs through a long band of silver and pink before darkness comes in. Short-tailed shearwaters return to the rookery on The Neck each September.
The Bruny Island Ferry runs from Kettering on the Tasmanian mainland to Roberts Point on North Bruny, crossing the channel in about fifteen minutes; service runs through the day with extended summer hours. From Hobart, Kettering is a 40-minute drive south. South Bruny National Park has walks at Fluted Cape, the Labillardiere Peninsula, and the lighthouse precinct. The island's small towns — Adventure Bay, Alonnah, Lunawanna — carry the oyster, cheese, and whisky producers that draw food travellers. The cool, clear months from November through April are easiest; the western swell builds through the southern winter.