Mike's "Promise to Travel" blog: Feb 14: The Lost Schoolgirls of Hanging Rock, plus Kangaroos!

Introduction:

In my mid-twenties, I promised myself that I would visit all 7 continents by age 40. I kinda thought that would happen naturally, without any special effort on my part. Alas, I now find myself precisely age 40, and I've only been to 5 continents!

So at the end of 2007, I booked a flight to Argentina, the most common jumping-off point for voyages to Antarctica. I've scheduled about a month to find a stand-by berth on an expedition ship. I depart Argentina on February 7, 2008, for Melbourne, Australia. If all goes as planned, I will celebrate my 7th continent on February 10. And if I'm not too hung over, I will celebrate my 41st birthday on February 11. In Spanish, they call this timing "justito." I'd call it "cutting things close." Welcome along for the ride!

A note regarding photos: if you have trouble viewing the slide shows, try this alternate link: http://picasaweb.google.com/travelinsider .

Thursday

Feb 14: The Lost Schoolgirls of Hanging Rock, plus Kangaroos!

Today, Terry, Carmel and I went on a drive into the "hinterlands" west of Melbourne. We ended up at a craggy rock formation known as Hanging Rock:

This spot is best known as the setting for a famous novel and film titled "Picnic At Hanging Rock" about the mysterious disappearance of a group of local school girls during a picnic / field trip at the Rock in 1900. Spoiler: sweet, innocent Miranda was NEVER FOUND....

The short hike and the views from the top were very pleasant, and it was great to spend time with Terry and Carmel, whom I met during a sailing cruise in Turkey a few years ago.

As we hiked down from the peak, Carmel mentioned that there might be kangaroos out grazing at dusk. I'd never seen one in the wild. Seconds later, I spotted a whole group of them.

At first I couldn't get anywhere near to the kangaroos. But eventually I learned to stalk them (low to the ground, lion-style), and got a few meters away. Lots of fun! Aussie farmers think of them the way our gardeners think of deer, or the way New Yorkers think of rats and pigeons: pure pests. But damn, they are cute. Particularly when they bounce around.

(Note: while male kangaroos apparently do box with each other, as part of establishing dominance, they are NOT actually known to box against humans while wearing boxing gloves, as you see in the cartoons. Wanted to be sure we are all clear on that....)

More pix from my time in Melbourne here: