Being holed up on an outback sheep station for nearly three years has been one of the best experiences of my life. From the spectacular landscape of the Flinders Ranges to the beauty of the people we came to know I will have lasting memories to make me smile - even though at times the life was hard challenging and tempers got frayed. I have detailed how certain discoveries on the station triggered difficult family memories and brought to light uncomfortable family taboos. Yet reliving those times has helped resolve deep frustrations that I have been battling for decades. My dear mum comes in for some flak and I need to make clear that mum gave me and my brothers a wonderful childhood full of love light and freedom. But there was a darkness that fell around us and I had to return to it because I was resentful. Writing about those times has been a kind of exorcism of my hurt feelings and I left the sheep station a happier more optimistic person. The outback became my therapist and for that I shall be forever in its debt.
