Picnic at Hanging Rock

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It seems my time in Australia is almost at an end. I am leaving for Croatia in about 2 weeks for a 3 month internship. The internship its self should be really good as it is with an NGO that deals with human trafficking. Though I have to admit I am not looking forward to going back to the Northern Hemisphere and a European winter! I am a bit nervous about the language barrier, but my Bosnian friend Jasenka, has been teaching me the important suff. You know. "Where am I?", "I don't speak Croatian", etc. In all I think it will be a nice challenge, and apparently Croatia is absolutley gorgeous. Plus, I get school credit, which means I will have my degree in another 3 months or so!

My flight also goes through India so I have decided to stop over for a weekend. I will have 4 days in Delhi and the surrounding area which I am really looking forward to. Though I had to get all of these vaccanations, which involved lots of shots and I also have to take malaria pills!

As some of you may know, Melbourne just played host to the Australian Open. I went twice and have to say I really enjoyed myself. I got to see Andy Roddick and Serena Williams, two of the bigger names. You don't really appreciate how good they are until you see them live, the speed at the which they hit the ball is amazing!

I also traveled to Hanging Rock. Hanging Rock was made famous by the novel and later the 1970s movie, “Picnic at Hanging Rock”. If you don’t know it, the story goes like this…in the 1900s a bunch of schoolgirls from a private academy go for a picnic at the rock, but four of them disappear, and while two of them do reappear in an altered state, the other two are never seen again.

Hanging Rock is only about an hour North of Melbourne, so Kirsty and I took a day trip up there to get out of the city for awhile. The drive up is quite pretty as it basically goes through farming and vineyard country. Hanging Rock its self is actually an old volcano or was a volcano like 6 million years ago. It is about 105 meters high, which is equivalent to 343 feet (if I did my math right). We climbed up to the top, which was a short but tough little hike up, and got an excellent view of the surrounding area. While the story of the schoolgirls is not true, a lot of people believe it is. I can kind of see why, the rock is a bit eerie, and the tourism board definitely plays up the “mystery”. Will post before I leave for Croatia. Jodi

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Photos

The Base
The base of the rock on the hike up with gum trees. Sometimes I kind of "forget" I am in Australia, but the trees always remind me, they are very unique and different.

The Painter
A painter was capture the view about half-way up, I thought it looked cool so I snapped a pic.

Andy Roddick
The first round match between Andy Roddick and some guy from Switzerland. Roddick is far court.

Rod Laver Arena
Center Court before the match

Comments

[Cliff]

Hanging Rock?
Hey Jodi - When I first read the title of your email I thought, "Jodi's back in NC?" Since we have a Hanging Rock here too. I'm glad to see you're having a good time down under. Good luck in Croatia. Take Care, Cliff

[Patricia]

Me, too!
I thought you were back in NC too. Good one. I'm glad you an Kristy didn't get lost for real. Safe journey!

[Sylvie]

I'm so jaleaous!
Hello dear! I'm so jaleous! It's been quite cold here in Paris! But it's getting warmer and soon winter will be over! You're so lucky you got the chance to go to the Australian Open... and to do a bit of sightseeing around Melbourne...I am still hoping to get back to Melbourne sometimes later this summer (european summer!) Take care and enjoy Croatia! See you soon in Europe! Sylvie