A couple of hours drive East from Melbourne in Victoria is Mount Macedon. On a recent trip to Melbourne a friend of mine took me there. After booking into our Bed and Breakfast we had a spectacular view from our window. In the distance I saw another mountain which took my interest. As it was raining it was covered in mist most of the time but it looked ghostly in the distance with the clouds surrounding it. Later on that day I found out that it was called Hanging Rock. I remembered the movie called Picnic at Hanging Rock and all I wanted to do is go there and have a look around. At this stage I still believed that the film was based on a true story. I was sitting at the window staring at that mountain trying to figure out what could have happened to the girls in those beautiful dresses that they wore in those times and the teacher that went missing never to be found again. Over night the clouds lifted and I could see Hanging Rock clearly in the distance. It looked like we were getting a nice day. I was very eager to get there. It didn't take us long to get there and equipped with our cameras we took off to explore the mystery. It was bigger than it looked from the distance. Climbing up I could see how easily someone could fall into crevasses or cracks. Hanging Rock is an unusual mountain as there are many passages that are formed by the big boulders. Many are suspended by lying across other ones. There must be at least two dozen different ways to get to the top. I soon got separated from the others very quickly. I took lots of photos with my Nikon digital camera. On top was a spectacular 360 degrees view of the surrounding area. After a couple of hours of exploration we haven't found anything that would give away that mystery. A little bit disappointed we worked our way down to the tourist information building. Looking at the display and reading the history of the mountain and surrounding area I discovered that it was only a fictional story. I was very very disappointed about that, although I was happy that no one lost their life. After all those years since I saw that movie and believing in it I think I have a right to be disappointed. If you haven't seen the movie go and hire it. Put your mind to it and make believe that it was actually a true story and you will get that feeling that I had after watching those girls disappear.
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Two pictures from the movie
It happened on Valentines day in 1900. A classful of girls from the Appleyard Girls Boarding School in Victoria went to the Hanging Rock for a picnic. Five girls disobeye orders and sneak away to climb the rock. Only one of the girls returns, screaming. The other four and a teacher that went looking for them vanished completely. The area is extensively searched but no trace of the girls could be found. Parents withdraw their children from the school, causing its finances to plummet. The son of a wealthy British family, who saw one of the girls just before she vanished, becomes obsessed with finding her. He searches on his own and later finds one of the girls, who is found to have been sexually interfered with and her memory blank.
The Blue Ridge Bed and Breakfast - You can just see Hanging Rock above the roof line
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Left: The start
Right: The Hanging Rock
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Left: Under the Hanging Rock
Right: Moss covered rocks
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Left: pillars of rocks
Right: One of the many walk ways
The view from the top