The boarders at Mrs. Appleyard’s College for Young Ladies are going on a day trip to Hanging Rock, a picnic site at the base of a mountainous formation a few hours’ ride from the college. The college where the girls live and study, located a few hours from the small town of Macedon in Victoria, Australia, is infamously strict and regimented; the students look forward to a day of recreation. It is Valentine’s Day, in the middle of a hot Australian summer. The group of 19 students includes the seniors Miranda, Irma Leopold, and Marion Quade, and a number of younger girls, including Edith Horton, Rosamund, and Blanche. They are accompanied by the strict mathematics teacher, Miss McCraw, the young, beautiful French and dancing mistress, Mademoiselle de Poitiers, and the buggy driver, Mr. Hussey. Sara Waybourne, the youngest boarder, is made to stay behind; she failed to memorize a poem in class the previous day. The headmistress, Mrs. Appleyard, bids the students farewell, instructing them to keep their gloves on when they ride through town.

Mr. Hussey picks the girls up. He is pleased to talk to Miranda, Irma, and Marion, who join him in the front of the buggy, but resents the intrusions of Edith, who is dull.