Whether the story is true, one thing can't be denied; there's a mystique about Hanging Rock that invites speculation and discussion. Admittedly I haven't read the book or seen the movie but even as a child I was attracted to the 'spirituality' of the site. I endured goosebumps and brothers playing tricks on me through the countless maze of rocks, not even hearing noise from their innocent tricks as they snuck through another corridor of rock.
Revisiting the rock as an adult similar feelings emerge. Even as my husband played a similar trick by wandering off as I turned a corner wandering in my own innocent world of discovery, I was reminded of the 'lostness' that seems so easy to fall into up there amongst the rocks and trees. Even as I called his name I could hear nothing else, no birds, no rustle of leaves, but I could feel the icy chill of the wind. Yet I don't remember feeling afraid.
There were plenty of people wandering around in their own adventures, children complaining of the walk up the hill, parents taking happy snaps and couples talking as they walked down the rocks and paths, but it was quite simple to lose them, and sneak down another passage of rock and around an unseen corner. Perhaps that's why there's so much mystery associated with it, the sheer natural structure of the place, where around every corner it feels like it's a new discovery.
I overheard some tourists saying how understandable it was that people could become lost up there, with the maze of rocks and dark corners and hidden spots. I don't know whether the story is true, and I really don't want to know. It creates such wonderful imagery and discussion and illusion, and invites people to visit in order to try and solve it for themselves, but creates more mystery by simply visiting.
