PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK

The story of Picnic at Hanging Rock is getting urban legend status, there is much confusion and misunderstanding surrounding the story by the general public.

The plot: The story begins in a English girls school in the Australian bush. The school is headed by Mrs Appleyard and unbending figure head of authority. Her staff included the mathematics mistress Miss Greta McCraw who would disappeared on the rock with three pupils, Masculine de Portier who teaches French and deportment and Miss Lumley who is always trying to please Miss Appleyard. The central charactor is a student Miranda a student, her circle of friends included Irma, Marion, Rosamund and Sara. Edith hovers around the edge of this group looking for exceptance. There is Sara, orphan who is a kind of charity pupil and is disliked by Mrs Appleyard and is not allowed to the join the outing at the rock because she has not memorized an assigned poem.

The girls ride to Hanging Rock, 500-foot tall volcanic rock formation about 11km northeast of the collage. Miss de Portier and Miss McCraw are the supervisors. Mr Hussey drives the girls in his wagon to the rock. For some reason everyone's time piece and wrist-watchs all stop at noon when they arrived. Miranda cuts a cake to honor St. Valentine Day. In mid-afternoon four of the girls, Miranda, Irma, Marion and Edith...decided to go and explore the rock in defiance of Mrs Appleyard's specific intructions. After a brief nap on a plateau, they got up and seemly appeared to be under a spell, three of them move towards an inner recess. Edith cried out to them not to go. She screamed and ran downwards. One of the teachers Miss McCraw left the picnic unnoticed and began to climb the rock.

Although due back at 8.00pm, it wasn't until 10.30pm when Miss Hussey's wagon arrived back at the school, where they tell Mrs Appleyard about the mysterious disappearance. Edith remains hysterical and unable to explain what had happened...only that she saw Miss McCraw heading up towards the plateau without her skirt. The police investigation was led by Sgt Bumpher and Constable Jones lead them to a young Englishman Michael Fitzhubert who was having lunch at the rock with his family, his uncle Colonel Fitzhubert and Mrs Fitzhubert. Michael and Albert, the Fitzhubert party's young valet, spent part of the lunch watching the picnic. But they offered no clues to the investigation. 

The nearby town of Woodend become restless as news spreads about the disappearance. The town folk are angry and want answers. Michael  became obsessed with finding Miranda, got Albert to accompany him back to the rock for another search but found nothing. The next morning Albert returned to the rock and found a delirious Michael whom he helped back to the ground. Albert followed Michael's trail and discovered Irma, unconscious but unharmed. At the Fitzhubert home where Erma is being treated for dehhydration and exposure. She tell the police that she has no memory of what happened on the rock or the fate of the others. The servants note to themselves that her corset has gone missing, a cluethat is never solved in the original book or the movie but is discussed in the 1987 update with the extra chapter "The Secret of Hanging Rock". 

Michael and Albert began to have terrible nighmares about a great evil that is lurking around Hanging Rock. The school ran as usual but soon parents started to notify Mrs Appleyard thay would be withdrawing their daughters from the school. One day during gyp class Irma turned up to tell the girls that her parents are taking her to Europe. The girls at first greet her with silence , then begin screaming at her that she must tell them what happened and attacked her. Miss de Portier had to pull them off and Irma ran away.

Mrs Appleyard started to drink in excess and became more abusive than ever towards Sara, telling her that her guardian has not paid her tuitition and would be sent back to the institution. She the lied to the reat of the staff that Sara's guardian had taken her away overnight. The next day Sara's body was found in the greenhouse by the school gardener. It was thought she had either jumped or was pushed from the second floor window. When the gardener rushed to Mrs Appleyard's office he found her fully dressed with all her things packed. Albert told Michael that he had a dream that his orphan sister came to him in his dreams. Sara is then revealed to be Albert's sister.

After Saras body was discovered, Mrs Appleyard disappeared before the police could interview her about the circumstances surrounding Sara's death. A few days later Mrs Appleyard was found dead beneath Hanging Rock. She jumped of the rock to her death.......... What a great story, I suggest get the book and watch the film.

The novel "Picnic at hanging Rock" by Joan Lindsay was first published in Australia in 1967. tells the story of the mysterious disaappearance of three school girls and their teacher during a picnic at geological formation known as Hanging Rock in Australia on Valentines Day in 1900. The reason for their disappearance whether it was human, natural or supernatural is never discovered but their disappearance has a profound effect on thier community. Picnic at Hanging Rock the film was directed by Peter Wier, adapted from the novel of the same name in 1975. It became one of the first Australian films to reach an international audience, receiving international acclaim and commercial success.

It is interesting that the original conclusion to the novel remained unpublished until 1987 when the final chapter was released, this was the wishes of Joan Lindsay's and the publishers made the a wise decision to pull out the last chapter in 1967. This was done to give the reader the sense of mystery and to give the idea that the story could be true and unsolved. Joan Lindsay asked the the final chapter only be released three years after her death. The last chapter was titled "The secret of Hanging Rock". This chapter solves the mystery of what happened to the three student and their teacher. It indicated that the girls met a supernatural ending. find the book and anjoy the ending.

There is much debate whether Picnic at Hanging Rock is fact or fiction. The truth is that it is a fictional story that is so well written that it gives the impression that it must be fact. Hanging Rock is a true site in Victoria Australia. The author does give the impression that the story is fact as by mentioning a newpaper report of 1914 at the end of the book, giving the impression there are actual articles on the diappearence. The reality is that these articles do not exist. There have been many searches for articles, police records and any other information relating to the story. Again no records exist. All the charactors are created for the novel. The places are childhood memories of Joan Lindsay. The collage is fiction, based on a school from Lindsay's childhood. The novel was set on Valentines Day, Saturday February 14th 1900. The actual day was a Wednesday. The charactors in the story never existed, there are no records of their births or deaths or any information to say any of these people existed.  Although there is a exhibit to the story of Picnic at Hanging Rock located at the site itself that gives the impression that it is a true story. It does not mention anywhere that the story is a very well written fictional story published in the 1960s.

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