Last month Tavi, Brodie and I went on a day trip to Hanging Rock Reserve, the site of a strange mountainous rock formation near the township of Woodend in rural Victoria, Australia—and the setting of the book and the film Picnic at Hanging Rock.
The drive from the city to the rock takes about an hour. We started our journey chatty and excited, but the closer we got to our destination, the quieter and more reflective we became. We arrived around 4:30 PM. Tavi put on Kanye West’s “Runaway,” and that eerie, echoey piano at the beginning felt entirely appropriate.
We parked and gathered our supplies (= chocolate Freddo Frogs), we began climbing. We followed the paths worn by hundreds of tourists before us. It was a cold, wintery day, so we were the only ones there, except for the occasional wallaby or blue wren.
The climb sloped gradually at first, but soon grew steeper, and rougher. We scrambled to the top as fast as we could and reached a flat clearing surrounded by tall rock formations, with views of the distant paddocks, sun-drenched and glistening.
We stopped to take some photographs and noticed a perfect little rainbow that seemed to have formed just for us.
It took longer than we thought but we made it to the top. We sat and looked out over the glorious green below.
We took a different path down, which seemed much quicker than our climb to the top. The little wallabies we had seen on the way up were rustling around now, probably glad they’d have the place to themselves again.
We all slid back into the car and began our journey back, in the dark now, listening to Bob Dylan’s “I Want You” and talk-singing along in our best Dylan drawls. Hanging Rock was such a beautiful place, one which I hope to return to soon. ♦
24 Comments
this is the best thing ever. hooray australia!
I absolutely ADORE Brodie’s dress!
Thanks Simone! I got it from ASOS Curve :)
ERMERGERD THIS IS SO AWESOME GO AUSSIES
AUSTRALIA
YEAH SONNN
YEAAAAAAAHHHHHHH
hanging rock is so gorgeous though…
p.s in my first year of high school we studied PAHR and it was just an excuse to sit around watching it, weeeeeeeee
These collages are so pretty! I wish mine looked like that! Australia is like my favorite place ever :)
MINNA YOU’RE A GODDESS xoxo
Love this!!!
SO CUTE ERMAGERD
also tavi, i dont know if u’ll see this but for my humanities class we had to write an essay about someone we considered a hero and prove why they were a hero and i chose you, and when i got it back my teacher said i had chosen the most motivational and inspiring person, and my essay was by far the most outstanding in the grade! :) so thanks for being my hero and getting me an A in the class!
this rocks! so inspirational too. loved seeing you in melbourne, tavi :)
jesuscametomyhalloweenparty.tumblr.com
I die, so beautiful
unrelated to this post but still important
many of you know that petra collins got her instagram taken away for posting a picture of herself from the waist down wearing a bikini bottom and an unshaved bikini line. This picture violated none of the instagram terms of use and yet it still got her account reported and taken away.
PLEASE sign the petition I made to help get her instagram back
These collages are so beautiful and are stirring up so many good memories and nostalgia for 3 months ago! <3
OH MY GOSSHHH
I can’t even describe how much rookie and Tavi and everyone here mean to me – I live in Melbourne and kind of vaguely dreamed about maybe tripping over to the US at some point and getting to attend a rookie event. When I found out Tavi was going to be a keynote speaker at the Melbourne Writers’ Festival I pretty much just died. And then I missed out on tickets and, not even exaggerating y’all, I cried for at least 30 mins just reading the reviews about it. So this is gorgeous and strange because it’s one of the few places on here that I’ve actually seen, but so very bittersweet and just, ugh
MUCHOS LOVE GUYS <3
Ps Brodie, you look fab!
These are awesome. They give me a nostalgic feeling.
Hanging Rock is the best. I saw Bruce Springsteen there earlier this year, pretty much the most magical moment of my life ngl
These are so inspiring! I think it’s wonderful to make beautiful collages to remember beautiful memories <3
OMG, this is so cool! Not just the awesome fact that you guys went there but also the photoset is amazing!
This post is so perfect, the descriptions and collages are just lovely ♡♡♡
Picnic at Hanging Rock is basically my favourite movie! I live in Australia but a bit far away from the rock to visit it, though I really want to! Rookie has just become even more amazing in my eyes (if that’s even possible) <3
It’s so incredibly lovely to see pictures of you all at Hanging Rock! I live in a town nearby and have spent many days wandering around the rocks!
When we were younger, my cousins and I spent an afternoon at Hanging Rock trying to find the girls. We came across a cave and made a flower shrine for them :*)
WHAT WAS TAVI REALLY 40 MINUTES AWAY FROM MY HOUSE :’)
Dear Minna and Tavi ( and Brodie who I don’t know )how wonderful to see this item and have my photo in Rookie !I was only 17 when I played Irma and I had just finished high school. None of us ever imagined the film would have the life it has had.Delighted that you are keeping the flame burning. My then beau artist Martin Sharp was the visual consultant on the film and made a beautiful book of collages to inspire the look of the film .. Minna your lovely work reminds me of that book .
keep up the good work and hope to see you in LA again soon.
love Karen ( mother of Tara Violet Niami )
holy fuck these are amazing.
I came here to get inspired, and that’s exactly what I am now
:)
xxBianca