Christine and I left Scotland in early March for 6 months work and travel around the world.

Our first stop was Thailand - some impressions of which are given in my latest article. The main purpose of the visit was to run a weekend workshop on the subject of my book "The Science of Oneness." The group was small - 20 in all - but wonderfully engaged and responsive to my ideas. I find it hard to imagine such dedication to deep philosophical discussion in a western group. Buddhism may be dying in Thailand, but the Buddhist cultural legacy was obvious. Staff at the Wongsanit Ashram did a wonderful job of translating my powerpoint slides, so that they were bilingual. And my friend Pracha was a wonderful translator of the verbal presentation and discussion.

Following this, Christine gave some ad hoc lessons in her healing methods to a group of ashram members, and provided healing sessions to others.

In between these activities, we had a chance to see some of Bangkok, impressions of which are given in my article. And an exciting spice was added to life when we helped the community fight a bushfire in the adjacent eucalypt plantation! With hard work, luck and a dose of humour, we saved all the threatened houses.

Christine and I both spent most of our lives in Perth, Western Australia, and I worked for 25 years at the University of WA. So coming here is a homecoming - but one to a city transformed by the resources boom - again see my article.  So far, we've mainly been catching up with friends and family, fighting the 'flu, and preparing for teaching commitments. I've begun a course on Climate Change: Be the Change, had a radio interview, and am nearly ready for a lecture on my book next week.