August 18th, 2024Walks of the Central Highlands

with Eve Lamb

Hanging Rock summit and base walks

It’s curious how long you can live with an iconic slab of national mythology sitting on your doorstop and never actually go check it out.

In a way Hanging Rock, just the other side of Woodend, has long occupied a mythical place in the Australian psyche. Now, as my trusty walking companion Paddy H and I set off for our debut sample of the famed rock’s summit and base walks we puzzle at why it’s taken us so long.

Thinking on this, I’m pitched back to my early childhood. As a small child, just traveling past Hanging Rock elicited so much trepidation, due to the stories I’d been fed about it, that I refused to even peer in its direction.

My mother had me well versed in the mysterious and opaquely sinister disappearance of the pubescent picnicking schoolgirls. Somehow I’d got it firmly locked into my young head that these girls had been abducted by aliens and then placed into a sort of extra-terrestrial harem where they would likely be utilised for an inter-species breeding program.

As mentioned, I was consequently so petrified by the place that as my father drove us past it, cheerily informing: “That’s Hanging Rock over there kids,” I’d determinedly swivel my head in the opposite direction. I may even have ducked down into the passenger foot well until we were safely beyond view of any potential lurking alien abductors.

“Of course the whole Picnic at Hanging Rock thing, the movie and the book by Joan Lindsay on which it’s based, is pure fiction,” observes Paddy H as we arrive at the site and successfully navigate the boom gate entry into the Hanging Rock Reserve.

On the way here we’ve stopped at the Woodend Visitor Info Centre where two helpful women on the desk explain that it costs “$10 per vehicle, not per person” to obtain a token to operate the exit boom gate and get back out of the park once you’re in. Potentially a sort of abduction in its own way!

There’s a prominently displayed ranger mobile number in the reserve, should you find yourself in a predicament. We park beside the picturesque Hanging Rock Race Course and it’s clear that this place has enduring visitor pull as evidenced by the number of people that are here even on such a brrrisk Sunday in the middle of winter.

The Bureau is spot on in its forecast of occasional sunshine – and showers – and as we prepare to get cracking on the 1.8 km (circuit) summit walk I’m super glad I’ve packed that extra coat.

We easily find the start of the walk, just behind the cafe and immediately I’m impressed by the sheer array of rock formations. I mean we all know there’s a Hanging Rock, but what I hadn’t expected was the number and variety of visually interesting rocky outcrops, monoliths and formations.

It’s a nice little climb up ahead to the top. At about the half-way mark we reach a point where walkers can either veer left and take a ramp to the summit, or veer right and take steps to reach Hanging Rock.

Since our goal is to reach the summit we veer left. Later on it becomes clear that both options together form the loop walk and both ultimately get you to the top where the profusion of volcanic rocky features make for plenty of visual interest while the silvery vista that stretches out below rewards those in need of a thermos stop.

While Paddy H gets stuck into the coffee, I strike up a conversation with three dudes, one of whom is sporting a sweatshirt with the word SCIENCE printed across the back. I catch a glimpse of a University of Melbourne insignia.

Having found themselves a panoramic vista, the three have settled atop a kind of rock island outcrop and are preparing to enjoy a game of cards there – despite the uncertain weather.

“G’day where are you guys from?” I venture.

“Melbourne.”

“Have you visited here before?”

“Yes.”

Perhaps Paddy H and I are the only people in Victoria who haven’t?

“What brings you back?” I ask.

“Well I like rocks and trees,” one of the card-playing trio replies.

“Looks like you’ve come to the right place then,” I observe, unnecessarily. But they all happily agree and settle down to their card game.

Not a bad idea, on reflection. Could catch on. You could call it something like ‘Cards in Volcanic Places’.

“Miranda… Miranda,” someone calls from somewhere beyond view, their voice drifting up to us.

“You can see how this place inspired the story,” Paddy H muses as I rejoin him and the thermos.

“How so?”

“The way people sort of appear and disappear into the landscape.”

And I do see. The plethora of rocky formations makes this place a kind of striking obstacle assemblage, and a treat for the photographically inclined.

And just for a tiny moment, while we’re working out which way to head on back down, I do actually lose Paddy H.

When we each take a different turn, he is momentarily swallowed from view behind the riot of geomorphological formations.

Finding each other again, we laugh.

Fortunately there are really only two options down, the stairs or the ramp that I mentioned earlier. So this time we go for the stairs which take us to the actual formation known as the Hanging Rock itself. It’s a bit Middle Earth.

Official literature advises that the overall Hanging Rock formation is a volcanic eruption point that produced lava. Dating of Hanging Rock lava indicates a late Miocene age, about 6 million years ago. Possibly 6.5 million.

Cooling of the rock produced numerous vertical features which shape the cliff faces and have been enlarged by weathering to produce a complex of pinnacles, craggy overhangs, small caverns and boulders on the slopes.

Also known by its traditional Aboriginal name, Ngannelong, this ancient former volcano lies 718m above sea level (105m above plain level). Arriving back at its base, we pause to enjoy our own picnic at the foot of Hanging Rock, before setting out to sample the 1.8km circuit base walk.

We pick up the well-signposted base walk start from just behind the cafe area and head off in a clockwise direction, admiring this different perspective and the natural bushland that surrounds The Rock.

While there were plenty of fellow walkers doing the summit, we encounter just one other solitary walker doing the base hike, a middle-aged woman with a serious camera.

The base walk concludes with a wander beside, or if you prefer through, the racecourse grounds. And what a pretty little racecourse it is with its heritage features and small lake centerpiece catching the late afternoon light.

“It hosts two annual race meetings. One on Australia Day and one on New Year’s Day,” says Paddy H who has been known to enjoy a day at the races.

Finally, arriving back at the car park we pay our $10 into the vending machine to receive the coupon that will enable us to leave Hanging Rock Reserve, through the boom gate.

We leave duly impressed by our debut expedition to Hanging Rock, vowing to return for a race meeting next time.

Images: Eve Lamb