Frank braves desert, cyclone for trek honour

At an age where most people are enjoying retirement, Mr Wheeler shows no signs of slowing down.

A world traveller, across various continents, he has accomplished far more than most people in a lifetime.

On the last leg of his three-month, 16,500km journey across Australia on a Bushland Ag motor bike with a specially designed sidecar, Mr Wheeler was relieved to almost be home.

"I am looking forward to the short three hours it will take to get home," he said when he reached Tamworth.

Travelling from as far-east as Cape Byron through the desert to Alice Springs across to Steep Point in Western Australia, Mr Wheeler braved the desolation and heat – 55.3 degrees celsius – of the desert, punctured tyres and the intense winds and rains caused by a tropical cyclone on his trek.

Inspired by a life-long love of travel, Mr Wheeler relied solely on the compassion of the dirt roads he was travelling on, camping out along the way.

"The thing I loved most about this adventure was the experience of the isolation in the Australian desert. There is nowhere else on earth you can experience something like that," he said.

An experienced adventurer to say the least, Mr Wheeler, an ex-commercial pilot, moved from the US to Australia 38 years ago. During the 1970s he undertook a 17,000km counter clockwise trip to circumnavigate Australia on a motorbike, which took just 21 days.

Mr Wheeler currently holds the record for his self-made solar boat which travelled 600,000km on solar power alone and considers getting up each day an adventure.