Mystery and legend at the real Hanging Rock

From the moment that a dark figure veiled in black lace appeared on our screens two weeks ago, the BBC's latest drama, Picnic at Hanging Rock, has had thousands of us gripped. Both the landscape and the plot are tantalizingly enigmatic.

By leaving us baited for our first real glimpse of its crags and chasms until the very last shots of the first episode, director, Larysa Kondracki, created yet another enigma for us: what is Hanging Rock?   

Well, far from being just the key location in Joan Lindsay's novel about the mysterious disappearance of a group of girls from an Australian boarding school, Hanging Rock is a real place. This jagged outcrop, rising up from an open plain around 50 miles north-west of Melbourne, is the eroded remains of an extinct volcano. The rock is over 6 million years old, formed by an eruption of magma. Over time ice and wind sculpted  the pinnacles you see today.

The former volcano is very important both culturally and spiritually to the area's indigenous peoples. Forced out in the mid-1800s, for centuries the Dja Dja Wurrung, Woi Wurrung and Taungurung were the custodians of Hanging Rock. The site was used for sacred ceremonies and initiations. However, they avoided venturing to the rock's summit, which they believed to be inhabited by evil spirits.

Despite the ghost stories (both ancient and new) that lurk in its crevasses, Hanging Rock is still a popular picnic spot. It now hosts horse races, music concerts, markets, and even petanque tournaments. Anyone who fancies testing their nerve can go on a night tour of its caverns. Forging your way through gum trees and bush, you're likely to stumble across kangaroos, possums, and wallabies.

Aside from its trail of literature and nature-loving tourists, Hanging Rock also attracts visitors fascinated by the site's strange magnetic activity. People often claim that their watches and electronic devices stop working as they approach the outcrop and the town of Woodend nearby boasts an Anti-Gravity Hill. On its incline cars and other objects mysteriously find themselves rolling up, rather than down, the slope. Paranormal phenomenon or optical illusion?  

The warped shots of ticking clocks and eerie sense of supernatural presence in the BBC drama plays on these local superstitions. Lindsay herself was fascinated by the occult and even claimed to have the ability to stop clocks and machines.

After her death, Joan Lindsay's home at Mulberry Hill was donated to the Australian National Trust and the estate is now a museum dedicated to the author. Visitors can admire the typewriter on which she wrote Picnic at Hanging Rock and the art studio where she and her husband painted.  

Aside from Hanging Rock, the Australian outback is rich in unique geographical formations that are considered sacred in Aboriginal culture. The area around Lake Macquarie in New South Wales, an enormous salt water lagoon dotted with sandy islets, is thought to have been created by Baiame, the Aboriginal Creator God. Legend has it that, after completing his work, Baiame leapt back up to the spirit world from the top of Mount Yengo, flattening it as he went. Close to Yengo's table-top summit is a cave filled with centuries-old artwork. The area is listed as an Australian National Heritage site.

The most famous of Australia's sacred rock formations, Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock) is part of the Unesco-protected Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. There are many stories about how this lone island of sandstone in the middle of the plain came to be formed. A popular one is that the earth itself rose up in grief after a bloody battle between two local tribes.

Uluru's waterholes, springs and rocky caves are spiritual places for the Anangu tribe who can still be found performing traditional songs, telling stories and dot painting in the surrounding park. Members of the tribe also offer tours to visitors, teaching them about the local flora and fauna, as well as the history and culture of their people.   

These ancient landscapes have captured the imagination of tourists, painters, and authors such as Lindsay over the years. Whether it's down to the magic of spirits, an electromagnetic force, or the power of good storytelling, the mystery of Hanging Rock grips us still. Even today, you can hear tourists screaming "Miranda!" from its peak.