Stonehenge?

Last weekend, LT and I were up for a bushwalk and decided to head out to Hanging Rock.  It's only about an hour outside Melbourne in the Macedon Ranges and we went in blind.  No prior research.  I like to set the bar low so expectations are typically exceeded.  I imagined we were in for another Blowing Rock.  Great town, ordinary rock.  In it's defense, tough for a rock to be extraordinary.

So we arrive and begin the trek up to Hanging Rock and it's not long before we arrive at the foot of towering rocks at least 15 stories tall.  The trail continues to traverse up the hill winding through a maze of enormous pointy fellas rocks.  Then we arrive at Hanging Rock.  It is pathetically uninspiring.  But we are amongst a virtual jungle of amazing rock formations.  Unlike my traveling partner who's not always the most stable person in the world, I like to climb on rocks.  It should be noted I'm not always the most stable person in the world either, and I thought I had put myself in a bit of a pickle a time or two.  It was a lot of fun to explore as each turn yielded another amazing view of the surrounding terrain, rocks the left you puzzled at their creation, and opportunities to climb.  We capped the bushwalk off with a couple of scones (Aussie for biscuit) with raspberry jam and whipped cream at the cafe at the base.  Haven't had a biscuit since we've been here and they REALLY hit the spot.

Quite intrigued with what created this odd place, I did a little post-trip research.  This type of formation is referred to as a mamelon, created over 6 million years ago by magma pouring from a volcanic vent and congealing in place.  Neighboring Mt. Macedon is the volcano which vented.  Apparently this event is somewhat rare as it generates a type of rock called solvsbergite which is only found in three places in the world: this region of Australia, Norway, and Sweden.  A flowing immersion is really the only way some of the cavities in these rocks can be explained.  Erosion can't create a sharp edged inverted cavity unless there's a fire hose involved.

Sign cautions against slippery rocks.  With rain the night before, and a
cool morning leaving a bit of dew, footing wasn't always exceptional.

Not fooling anybody with the grass creeping up into the picture.

I've been working out.

Lot of rocks.  Like an alien planet.

Found myself in a bit of a predicament up in a rock cavity.  This
is a successful exit after several less flattering attempts to descend.

Eucalyptus tree emerging from the rocks near the summit.

At the "summit" ... we think.  Pretty difficult to tell with very tall pointy rocks all over the place.

Maze of rocks.

Sure, those rocks look secure.  No worries mate.

Looks like a nose and pouty lip.

LT made me do it.

Amongst the maze of massive rocks, these were to be the guides
to various landmarks.  I think we saw about four of them.

T Scott's engraving from 1866.  Not sure who T Scott is and always skeptical
about the dates.  What's to keep somebody from carving 42 B.C. into a rock?

All the crazy, precariously placed, enormous rocks around this
joint, and  that minuscule thing above just above the piece of
wood is the "Hanging Rock" for which this place is named.

Seriously.  That's it.

Cool fallen tree trunk.

Large cross at the peak of Mt. Macedon in honor of fallen soldiers.

Site of the Kurana crash.  A passenger flight that crashed here on
Mt. Macedon in 1948.  You'd think the trees would have grown back
 in by now, somebody must routinely trample them to preserve the memorial.