The Bligh Museum is a privately-run history museum at Adventure Bay, Bruny Island. Bruny Island lies off the south coast of Tasmania and is accessed by a 15-minute car ferry from Kettering, 40 minutes south of Hobart (34 kilometres). Built from thousands of convict-made bricks, the Bligh Museum of Pacific Exploration features a specialised collection relating to exploration in the South Pacific. A display of maps, documents, paintings and other artefacts offers an historical record of visits to Adventure Bay by explorers Captain William Bligh, Captain James Cook, Tobias Furneaux, Matthew Flinders and Admiral Joseph-Antoine Bruny D'Entrecasteaux. Notable works by Tobin, Webber and Hodges are also included in the collection. The Museum's foundation stone was laid on 9th September 1955 - the 200th anniversary of Captain William Bligh's birth. Tobias Furneaux - who accompanied Cook on a voyage of discovery in the HMS Adventure - landed in Adventure Bay in 1773. He replenished his food and water supplies before sailing to New Zealand. Captain James Cook landed at Adventure Bay in 1777. His sailing master, William Bligh, revisited the bay again in 1788, 1792 and 1809. Bligh and his botanist planted the first apple tree in Australia in 1788.
