I have lived in Southwest Victoria for pretty much my entire life. I feel I know the place like the back of my hand so to say. You can imagine my surprise when I scrolled across Google maps a few weeks ago to see a place just down the road that I had never heard of. I did a quick search of the web to find article after article all labelling it "the most amazing place you've never heard of" or something similar. They were spot on, I had never heard of it. I asked both my parents and they had never heard of it either. I decided today was the day I'd check it out to see if it lived up to all the hype.
The articles say that it is well and truly off the beaten track and they were once again on the money. A decent 4WD or motorbike could get you there but the sandy tracks and boulder fields were way too much for my little Barina so a 5km return trek was to be had. After it was stated in such great volume how unheard of this place was you can understand my shock and mild disappointment to have a minivan full of people pull up next to me when I arrived. I did notice the landowners at the end of the road have put signs up on their gates and fences warning not to trespass. There must be enough of a crowd coming down the road now to warrant such signage. It probably won't be long before the track is well beaten as the cat is quickly coming out of the bag on this destination.
I gave the group a head start because it was a warm day and I figured they might scare the snakes away. I also didn't really know where I was going so I'd just follow them. It didn't take long for me to catch them as they had no idea where to go either. There were no signs or even a well defined path to follow. After a bit of trial and error down different paths we finally arrived at our destination... sort of. Only a cliff to negotiate and I'd be in a prime spot to see the magic. It took a bit of work and the removal of shoes but I got myself into a position to photograph the most famous unheard of thing... Magic Rock.
It's not quite as good a photo as the professionals but I really didn't want to break my neck for it. It won't be long before a fence is put up and crowds start forming or for it to fall down. I'm glad I saw this place while it is still "magic".
Let's see what tomorrow brings.