Picnic at Hanging Rock


There is a famous novel that tells a made-up story about Hanging Rock. The story has also been made into a film. Hanging Rock is such a mysterious place, it's hard to believe the story is not true. 


Here I am in front of the rock formation where Hanging Rock is to be found. 

This rock formation was once a volcano, which is now extinct. Wind and weather have worn away the rocks into strange shapes. Some of the rocks look as if they were piled on top of each other by a huge giant and might roll down at any time. In actual fact they are perfectly safe and have been piled up like this for ages and ages. 


Here we are a bit closer up.

It was quite a climb to the top. Looks like Brimham Rocks, doesn't it? 

Here I am sitting under the famous Hanging Rock. 


Here's a picture of the lady who wrote the story:

The story is about a group of girls who go to Hanging Rock on a trip from school. They stop to picnic here: 

This funny little building is a ladies' toilet that was built in about 1910 - quite historic for Australia! 


The girls were told not to stray away from the picnic grounds but one girl, Miranda, encouraged some of her friends to climb up to the Hanging Rock. 


Here is a statue of Miranda that is in the Visitors' Centre:

If I had been with Miranda, I would have told her to listen to the teacher! But I wasn't there, and Miranda and her friends could not be found. People searched and searched and after a few days, one of Miranda's friends was found. She could not remember what had happened to the others. It was as if they had been swallowed up by the rocks . . . like this:

It's quite a scary story, isn't it? But don't worry, it's only a story. I tested to see if the rock would swallow me up: 

But nothing happened. Here I am, safe and sound:

On the way back down the hill, something REALLY exciting happened. We saw a Koala Bear!

That's him - the ball of fur in the fork of the tree. 


Here's the other side: 

I know it doesn't look like much but we were very excited. Koalas are shy creatures and you don't often see them. 


After all that excitement, it was time for lunch:

Australian tukka is fair dinkum!


Hooroo!