From the yeasty warmth of freshly baked bread to the clean, summery haze of lavender flowers, we all have favorite smells we find particularly comforting. What’s yours?

I was lucky enough to grow up in a peaceful, lush and at the time, isolated place called Nowendoc.

Our 900 acres of hilly beef cattle country is bordered to the west by a State Forest. My parents still have a 99 year perpetual lease on 300 acres within the boundaries of the forest where we used to put mature cows to winter. I say used to because they don’t put any stock there now. Too many have gone missing with the only trace being horseshoe marks in soft soil.

When I was a child I was a loner.

At school I spent my lunchtime reading in an out of bounds area which the principal ignored (she got me).

At home I spent my daylight hours on a horse.

I would catch my horse on the weekend in the morning, might come in for lunch, but mostly I’d get home with enough time for my horse to dry off before the cool night arrived.

These are the days that my nosey delights come from.

If I think hard and breath deep, I can smell…

The sweet smell of my horse, slightly sweaty.

The earthy scent of freshly disturbed humus rich soil.

A whiff of musty honey near a native bee nest.

The occasional stench of death.

I think the one I miss the most is the smell of a summer storm rolling in from the west.

I would feel the air pressure change and my excitement would build.

There would be a rumble of thunder you could feel as much as you could hear.

A waft of earthy scent building to the glorious and unique smell of our native eucalypt forest that I’ve never smelt anywhere else.

Slowly, the fresh smell if the rain mingled with the forest, cleaning the air.

These are the smelly memories of my childhood.

My happy place.