Adventure Bay
Postcode: 7150
Adventure Bay is the name of both a township and a geographical feature on the eastern side of Bruny Island, Tasmania. It was named after the ship HMS Adventure used by Captain James Cook during his second circumnavigation of the globe in the early 1770s, and was subsequently used as an anchorage by many other early expeditions including Captain William Bligh in the HMS Bounty.
During the early 1800s it was the site of a bay whaling station, but during the course of the 19th century and into the 20th century it was a centre of the timber industry. Sheltered from all but strong north-easterly winds, the township of Adventure Bay at the southern end of the bay itself was the site of both extensive timber mills and a long jetty from where sea-going vessels could load timber.
Dangerously exposed to north-easterly gales, several ships were driven ashore and wrecked there, the largest being the 241-ton barque Natal Queen in 1909. Adventure Bay is now largely a tourist destination.