There's all kinds of things afoot with the stone. In fact, it appears to be taking on a life of its own. If you go to the Arvon Foundation's newsletter you'll see the stone and how it's become part of a competition where people get to say where they'd like to take it and why - and the winner will receive a writer's and artist's yearbook.

Of course, I'm not suggesting that the stone set this opportunity up. It happened due to the enthousiasm of a man called Philip who works for Arvon. But nevertheless it goes to show that the stone and its migratory habits has the ability to excite people and to get them involved in some way.

This was also borne out last weekend. I attended the Resurgence Summer Camp as Satish Kumar had invited me to read poems there. Miraculously the sun shone all weekend and at times shade has to be sought for comfort. Again and again people were intrigued by the migrating stones project: for some reason it taps into something very deep in our psyches, this idea of stones moving around the world. I'm not quite sure why - so if you have any insights or ideas do let me know. But there's no getting away from the fact that something is sparked in us when we think of stones or pebbles - an old memory that we can't quite grasp, perhaps a feeling in our bones that we too will be stones one day and when we are we'd like to be treated well and taken care of.

Meanwhile the date for my trip to Australia draws ever nearer. Small butterflies have begun to spawn in my belly. It's a long way away and I hope I've done everything I need to do to ensure the stone gets there in one piece. I've started meeting more and more people who love Australia and I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm going to be rather blown away by the oldness of it. Who knows? I'll find out soon enough.