My Happy Place (Jane Blackwood)

Jane Blackwood
Cravens Peak Reserve Manager

I have lots of favourite spots on Cravens Peak and they’re all places that make me feel strong and happy, and connected to the country that I live on.

One of those places is S-Bend Gorge; I never fail to feel completely embraced when I’m at S-Bend. The rest of Cravens Peak is more exposed country – sand dunes and open plains – but this is more of an enclosed space, with beautiful sedimentary quartzite rocks embedded with fossils towering above you.

Everything comes to water in this country, so S-bend is a little jewel. There’s a line of Red River Gums, there’s water – or at least the ghost of water – in the Mulligan River, there are emus walking past and there’s the sound of wind in the trees.

Sometimes, after I’ve been slogging it out in the sun doing fence work or some other physical activity, I like to come down to the gorge and spend a night camped under the trees listening to the sound of the wind blowing through their branches. It’s a real relief for me and I guess I always feel that when I enter the gorge.