Bruny is one of my favourite places. An island, off an island, off the mainland of Australia. It has a resident population of 700 which grows to over 5,000 during the summer months. The local police force doubles for the tourists, from 1 to 2.

A narrow neck of land joins North Bruny and South Bruny with wooden steps leading up to fabulous views.

We’ve taken the car ferry across to the island on several occasions, but today we saw Bruny from a different perspective, from a tour boat.

The island has interesting geology and rock formations. Waves crashing into underwater caves created spectacular curtains of water.

We saw a variety of sea birds, gulls, cormorants, short tailed shearwaters (locally called mutton birds) and shy albatross.

We observed two seal colonies, the male only group of Australia fur seals and a breeding colony of New Zealand fur seals. They were slow and cumbersome on the rocks but sleek and agile as they swam near the boat.