A serial explorer from Penryn is about to embark on a fresh adventure to the arctic tundra.

Tony Clarke, aged 67, has lived in the town for nearly 40 years but unknown to most of his neighbours, he is an intrepid traveller.

His obsession began in the 1970’s when he and Tim Ferris of Feock Garages undertook a 13-month circumnavigation of the globe in two Minis for the STOP Polio Campaign.

Three more so-called “Bumpy Road Expeditions” followed.

In his specially converted Land Rover, Tony drove from Penryn and through Europe, across the Russian steppes and on through Kazakhstan into China and beyond.

“It is still difficult to obtain permission to drive in China,” said Tony. “The authorities insisted I had a Chinese driving licence, registration and number plates, and a Chinese guide called Tom, who slept most of the time - when he woke, he would ask me where we were.”

A further trip took Tony not only around Australia, but through the centre from north to south and east to west, to make sure he had seen every inch of its stony and desolate tracts.

The most recent expedition, in 2007, saw him drive from southernmost South America, across the Andes, through Central America, the US and Canada to the most northerly point he could drive - the arctic oceans of Alaska.

Along the way Tony has driven the world’s most dangerous roads, including those with sheer drops, burning sands and deep mud.

He has been detained at gunpoint, mugged, robbed, attacked, strip-searched for drugs, interrogated by the military and suffered altitude sickness, dog bites and insects.

“But I have also seen |the world’s incredible wildlife and its magnificent panoramas,” Tony said.

“I have camped on top of a mountain range and in the middle of a desert.

“I have driven with mud up to the axles and the rain forest brushing the sides of the car, and I have never been happier.”

For Tony’s next |expedition he will head north towards the |Arctic Circle, through Scandinavia and on to |the northern tundra of Russia.

He plans to embark on the three month trip this weekend, as a “dry run” before a future adventure that will see him circumnavigate the entire continent of Africa.

“I don’t know if it’s possible to do it,” he said, “but I have been through Africa and I thought next time I would try to go around the edge of it.”

Friend Pete Lochrie said: “If there is an unexplored nook or cranny left on |the globe, you can be sure that Tony Clarke will find it.”