
Labillardiere Peninsula Track
South Bruny National Park
Directions - Located on the south west corner of South Bruny Island, the Labillardiere Peninsula Circuit starts from the Jetty Beach Campground. From The Neck, take Bruny Island Main Road to the end, turning right onto Lighthouse Road. Follow this until you reach the turnoff for the Jetty Beach Campground along Old Jetty Road. Keep going until you reach the campground, parking near the toilet block where the signs for the Labillardiere Peninsula Circuit Walking Track are located.
The Hike - The Labillardiere Peninsula Circuit was one of the hikes I was most looking forward to visiting on Bruny Island as it's listed as one of the 60 Great Short Walks by the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service. Anytime I can get in a decent length day hike I am a happy bunny, and this one fit the bill quite nicely. Having hiked the Cape Queen Elizabeth Track the previous day, along with a visit to The Neck, I was keen to see what South Bruny Island had in store.















With some inclement weather forecast for the afternoon, I wanted to make the most of my trip to Bruny Island, with plans to do this hike in the morning and maybe the East Cloudy Bay Walk afterwards if the weather played ball. After enjoying a hearty breakfast of hot cross buns (love they are sold from Boxing Day onwards), I made up some rolls for lunch and departed from my North Island accommodation. The drive was thoroughly enjoyable with winding road that provided a variety of beautiful scenery and plenty of sweeping bends. It's a decent drive to reach the Jetty Beach Campground and I was happy to finally arrive. Being the summer school holidays, the campground was full but there is an area for day hikers to park in. Applying sunscreen and lacing up my trail runners, I was soon ready to go experience one of the more highly rated day hikes in Tasmania. Following the blue signs that mark the start of most of the nice day walks in Tassie, I headed into the thick vegetation.
Finding a Walkers Registration box not far into my journey, I filled it out and was pleased to see many others had enjoyed this walk over the past few days. Continuing on, the first section takes you through a tunnel of Tea Trees and She-Oaks before settling down to reveal some lovely dry sclerophyll forest. After 400m of single track, you reach what looks like a management track and the markers point you to the right to follow it up the hill. I had disturbed some wallabies on the single track before I was able to get a photo, so I was pleased when they had taken up residence on the management track. Snapping some photos, I continued up the hill and was curious about what was in store as I headed towards the first of the coastal sections. Spotting lots of summer wildflowers including some Common Heath and Triggerplants, this would turn out to be one of the best wildflower days of my Tassie trip since hiking up and over the Ironbounds on the South Coast Track.















Rising up and over a small hill, the forest through here was really gnarly and made for some nice photos. Eventually clapping eyes on the coast, it was a majestic sight with a combination of white clouds, blue skies and calm waters. Overlooking Standaway Bay, this would be the main view for the next section of walking as you continue along the wide management track. While planning my hikes on Bruny Island, I had this vision that the island would provide nothing but expansive views over the water and the Labillardiere Peninsula would be similar to Cape Raoul or Cape Pillar. This was not the case here as the mainland of Tasmania is so close that it just feels like the hills near Southport could just be the other side of a bay that connects up eventually. This section leading out to the turnoff for the shorter Luggaboine Circuit dips back inland for a while and the views disappear.
Reaching the intersection for the two tracks at a wide grassy area, at this point I was starting to wonder why this was such a highly rated walk given it had mostly been on vehicle tracks with limited views. Heading off on the Labillardiere Peninsula Circuit, I was hoping it would get better from here. After walking through some thick coastal scrub, still on management tracks, the views over the coastline returned. This vista, in varying forms depending on how far along you get, will be the main view going forward and this was perfectly fine with me. The track dips up and down as you near the coast, taking you inland as it curves along the coastline, and then back towards the great views as the contours change. A little point of interest just off the coast is the funnily named Hen and Chicken Rocks, seen as you get closer to Point Labillardiere. Here I was treated to the sound of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos coming out of the forest and thankfully one landed right below where I was, and I was able to get a photo while it fed.