I first arrived in Sydney 2 years ago, and as soon as I stepped off the plane I noticed how fresh the air smelled. It seems strange to me today because when I return to the airport now it just smells like airport. Perhaps it smelled so nice back then because I was coming from London, which smelled dusty, damp, and old. (Of dead animals, sweaty bodies and the tube.) The smell in Sydney was refreshing, green and heavy. Sometimes when I’m in the streets of Sydney I can smell a lemon-y scent, perhaps it’s lemon myrtle? I love the smell of frangipani.

I’ve always been fascinated by the nuance of scent and the connection it has to memory. It’s my strongest sense. At the moment I’m experimenting with essential oils, trying to create the scent of the forest, the way it smells to me.

I often go hiking and I just wish that I could bottle the scent of each place and bring it back to the office. I think in the future instead of a postcard we’ll be sending scents home to capture a particular place. My favourite place to hike is Martin’s Lookout in the Blue Mountains, it smells of warm wood, and of when the sun shines on stones and warms them up.

SCENT

Lemon myrtle, eucalyptus, warm wood, frangipani, stones.

By

Becca Wolf