For the next few weeks, we’re going to read some brilliant excerpts from OUT OF THE FOREST. Today we learn of one of the superpowers Gregory developed during his time in the wilderness.

Although I’d lost my grip on the passing of days I had gained an incredibly heightened sense of smell out there in the time warp.

Once a month or so I’d trek out of the forest and make my way into the nearest town which was Mullimbimby (northern New South Wales)

I had a special park bench in the middle of Australia’s premier hippie town I called the ‘smelling chair’.

I’d sit there with my eyes closed and inhale the scent of the people passsing by. It was amazing to me that I could smell individuals within the crowds.

I could tell the difference between female and male; between blokes who washed and blokes who didn’t. I could smell people who ate garlic the night before; frankincense, musk, different soaps, different colognes and perfumes; even the items people were carrying.

After a number of trips into ‘the big smoke’, there were three or four people I could identify by their odor. My favorite was a particular fragrant female whose perfume I loved. Since I kept my eyes closed I have no idea who she was or what she looked like.

There was a flipside, though: some blokes stank so badly it just about made me gag. Ironically, I knew I reeked as well but I couldn’t really smell me; it was lived in scent.

In our final instalment next week, we check out some of the crafty ways Gregory used to conceal himself in the forest.