Globe-trotting ex-policeman Lewis Dunkerley is back in Bermuda on a foot patrol down memory lane.

For the former 25-a-week Bermuda Police constable -- who worked here 37 years ago -- got a taste for travel after a stint with the Island's boys in blue.

And since then, he has worked in more than a dozen countries as a Police advisor and security consultant.

Mr. Dunkerley, 63, came to Bermuda from London's Metropolitan Police and returned there after spending a year in the khaki and blue uniform of the Island Police, eventually retiring a few years ago as a Chief Inspector.

Now he's back on the Island after a 20-plus year gap on a mission to visit all the countries he's worked in.

Mr. Dunkerley said: "You could say it all started in Bermuda -- I really got the taste for travelling.

"It was the first time I'd ever seen a palm tree. I've seen a lot of them now, having worked in 14 countries and visited 140-plus of them.'' Mr. Dunkerley -- wearing a three-button blue checked jacket bought in Smith's in 1961 and now back in fashion again -- said the Island had changed enormously since he last visited, in 1967 on honeymoon.

But some things obviously never change -- he remembers bike theft as a major problem in the 60s.

He said: "A lot of the crime in Bermuda was to do with stealing cycles. They had a Cycle Squad then which was high-profile and really quite successful.'' But he said the major drug problems which have afflicted the Island since the 80s were far over the horizon in the 60s.

Mr. Dunkerley said: "There were some I suppose, but it wasn't seen as much of a problem then.'' But the former Central Division officer added: "There have been unbelievable changes -- when I first walked around Hamilton I could remember a few places, but it was very hazy.

"But there are many officers now retired but still on the Island or working in other jobs. I'm seeing them all while I'm here. It's terrific to see them all again after so many years.'' He added: "The amount of development is amazing. But everything looks very clean and well-tended. And the people are still very friendly, highly civilised, and pleasant to visitors.'' Mr. Dunkerley said he had been stationed in London's Soho -- then a bustling maze of strip joints and bars -- at the start of the swinging 60s.

He added: "It was a bit of a culture shock for me coming to Bermuda and seeing very pleasant surroundings, although not without its problems, of course. It was a very peaceful way of living compared to the rambunctious life in Soho.'' But the end of Mr. Dunkerley's career on the Bermuda force was the start of a series of secondments abroad from the Met.

He and other UK officers paddled ashore in Anguilla in 1969 after riots broke out following the island's insistence on returning to colonial status following going independent with St. Kitts and Nevis.

And he also signed up with the Seychelles police for four-and-a-half years, setting up a training school and acting as advisor to the Commissioner of Police following the 1967 coup d'etat.

He has also worked on secondment in Grenada after the island erupted in political turmoil in the 80s, which led to an invasion by US forces. Dominica was next on the Dunkerley gazetteer, where he helped set up a UK-aided training school for police after the island was wrecked by Hurricane Alan.

And -- while still a serving Met officer -- he spent time in India soaking up Sikh culture as part of a community relations drive.

But his biggest challenge came in the late 80 and early 90s, after he had quit the force and joined the UN relief operation in Thailand, working with refugees from Khmer Rouge Pol Pot's Cambodian killing fields.

Mr. Dunkerley said: "I worked as head of security in the camps -- there were 380,000 refugees in eight camps.

"We had to set up a judicial system so the Khmer people could look after law and order. I trained 1,600 police officers, all refugees, and we built bamboo prisons and trained prison officers.

"We also trained magistrates and built bamboo courts -- we had the biggest bamboo city in the world.

After stints as a security consultant in Sierra Leone and Libya for mining and oil companies, he went back to Cambodia as head of security for a private charity, before finally deciding to call it a day and retire.

But he has not quit travelling -- next year will see a trip to China through Pakistan.

Mr. Dunkerley laughed: "I still don't feel like putting on the cardigan and slippers -- I got the taste for travel in Bermuda and I've never stopped since.''