Campsite #17: Captain Cook Caravan Park (not recommended unless you like paying $1 for each cold shower on top of $28 for a patch of dust) - Wait for the Adventure caravan park to reopen.

Yum, Yum, Yum, Wow, Wow, Wow. North and South Bruny are popular weekend holiday places for the locals, and we sure could see why. Our trip started with fresh-from-the-sea oysters with the most delectable homemade worcestershire sauce - picked up from the drive through and enjoyed in the at with the stunning Bruny isthmus in the background. There's also fine cheeses, berries and chocolates to please all tastes.

Now, to the wow. And I'm not referring to the "I-can't-believe-they-charge-a-$1-for-a-hot-shower" caravan park but the spectacular coastline. The Bruny Island cruise upon the trademark yellow inflatable boats was amazing. We whizzed through towering dolerite columns, were sprayed by an blowhole in the Tasman Sea and crossed over into The Southern Ocean where we saw a colony of fur seals (well to be accurate, we smelled them before we saw them!). And most important, we saw South Cape, the southernmost tip of Australia. Our goal was accomplished!

The remainder of our time at Bruny Island was spent enjoying the pristine beaches - kilometres of white sand, clear water and not a soul around; and more great hikes. A special part of Bruny Island is its naval history. We stopped for our daily sandwich picnic in a sheltered spot where a creek met the beach only to discover that Captain Cook and his crew also stopped here over 234 years prior, even before Australia was born. Other famous naval visitors included William Bligh, Bruni D'Entrecasteux (after whom the islands are named) and Tobias Furneaux.

A less celebrated part of the Islands' history is the incomprehensible decimation of the Tasmanian Aboriginal people. Even the French who sailed by in 1773 recognised that Tasmania was inhabited by others so it was not theirs for the taking (even if they were so inclined). Never again will I be so ignorant to say that Australia has never suffered the brutality and violence of war. Too much blood, most of it indigenous, has been spilled on Tasmania's soil already. The words "I'm sorry" come easily.