Picnic at Hanging Rock

This morning I decided to go and have a picnic at Hanging Rock. Yes the place made famous by the 1975 film of that name.

I took the V/Line train to Woodend, a little less than an hour northwest of Melbourne. From here it was about 6km walk to the reserve. In the grounds there's a discovery centre, cafe and marked walks. I set off up the path to the top. "WARNING - The climb to the top of Hanging Rock is strenuous and can cause fatigue", said the sign. I suppose they think someone might sue them for feeling tired if they haven't been warned.

Hanging Rock (or Mt, Diogenes, as it is more properly called), is the stump of an old volcano. The rocks, a rare volcanic form of solvsbergite, have these interesting forms.

At the top, there is quite an area of these stumps. It was here that, in 1900, several members of a picnicking party of schoolgirls from Appleyard College disappeared without a trace (hence the book and then the film).

Well here I am at the top and, obviously (or you wouldn't be reading this), I managed not to disappear. There is quite a view in all directions.

I confess I didn't picnic on the rock but had an excellent toasted ciabatta with Jarlsberg, spinach, mushrooms and tomato sandwich at the cafe instead. Then I went for a walk around the base of the rocks.

At the bottom there is a racetrack. Here I found some racing kangaroos. Well one of them raced off, but the other two stayed put as I went up to the racetrack rail.

And here is the view of the whole rock formation from the other side of the racetrack. As you can see, there is also a cricket pitch.

A very pleasant setting for the game.

Well, now I'm back in Melbourne and my feet are a bit sore. But it was an excellent country walk in a very peaceful,and slightly eerie place. You can see more of my pictures here on Flickr.