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This website tells the stories and experiences
of Johan & Charmaine Claassens
and about their journey around the world.
Since leaving Cape
Town on 13th June 2004, we have
traveled through South Africa, Zimbabwe,
Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia,
Djibouti, Yemen, Oman and the United Arabs
Emirates. While we were based in Dubai (United
Arab Emirates) we did excursions to Islamabad -
Pakistan, Germany and Jordan. We started the
second leg of our Round The World journey
from Dubai on 27 May 2008 and have traveled
through Iran, Turkey, Greece, Italy, France,
Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, England,
Scotland. We crossed the Atlantic Ocean on
board the Queen Mary 2 (passenger ship) and
arrived in North America at New York City. From
New York we travelled to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska,
the northernmost point (70deg North) on our
journey so far. From there the only way
forward by road is south, we drove
down through Canada, USA, Mexico,
Belize, Guatemala , Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa
Rica and Panama. From Panama we by passed the
Darien Gap and sailed the Caribbean sea to
Cartagena in Colombia. This was our 5th
continent, and from Cartagena we traveled
through Colombia, Ecuador,Peru, Chile and
Argentina, all the way to 54 deg South and the
southern most city in the World, Ushuaia. From
Ushuaia the only way by road is North, and we
went back north to Buenos Aires and the north of
Argentina, before we returned to Valparaiso,
Chile, from where we have shipped the bike
to our 6th and final continent, Australia.
We crossed the Pacific Ocean on 25 July 2009
on board an Airbus airplane to New Zealand. We
left New Zealand on 10 August 2009 for Melbourne Australia ,
where we waited for the Bike to arrive
and now we are living in Mandurah....Western
Australia........ See
below map for our exact route around the
world.........................Enjoy the
adventure with us
Link to our favourite Web Sites, Youtube & Facebook
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This is
a bilingual site of a mixture of Afrikaans and
English. When we started our journey, we did not have a website
and the e-mails we sent home were a mixture of Afrikaans and
English, Please scroll down through the pages, as there is
English paragraphs in between the Afrikaans. The Afrikaans
sections is done in purple and the English in black. Hope you will
be able to follow both and enjoy the
adventure with us......................
I Johan
am a born Bolander (Paarl) and Charmaine is
a Capetonian
(Table View), South Africans for the non-South African readers.
Both of us are keen bikers and members of CMA (Christian
Motorcycle Association). Charmaine got her full colours in
Windhoek, Namibia in 2000, where she was resident for 8 years
and rode a Suzuki SV650. I got my full colours with the Cape
Town chapter in 1999, and have been around the Southern African
continent on various excursions of my own.
Dit het als begin terug in 1995, toe ek en 'n vriend van
my, Thinus, ons eerste lang pad gevat het met ons Kawasaki 550’s. Dit
was 'n besluit op die ingewing van die oomblik, toe ons besluit het om
die volgende dag George toe te ry om oujaarsaand daar dear te bring. My
eerste rally was die volgende jaar, die keer in die Baai, ook met my
GPZ550. Die res is geskiedenis, soos hulle mos sê, die gogga het gebyt.
In die winter vakansie van 1997 het ek my eerste ekspedisie oor die
grens gemaak, Victoria waterval toe, 'n hele 2700km vanaf die Paarl. My
Kawasaki Z1100 het my en my suster, Charmaine sonder enige drama veilig
soontoe en terug geneem. Soos my eerste lang pad in '95, sal ek seker
nooit die gevoel vergeet van my eerste ervaring van 'n vreemde land nie.
Met daardie trip was die spreekwoordelike koël deur die kerk, en die
reis-gogga wat gebyt het, het aanhou groei. Intussen het ek meeste
geteerde paaie in ons land deurkruis in al 9 provinsies, en die afgelee
grondpaaie het my begin fasineer. Dis toe dat ek oorskakel vanaf 'n
padfiets na 'n dubbel doel fiets, 'n BMW F650. In 2000 het ek my eerste
Kaapstad na Londen droom-toer se geld gebruik om 'n nuwe 1150GS
aangeskaf, met die gevolg die toer het toe nooit plaasgevind nie. In die winter vakansie van 2002 het ek getoer deur
Mosambiek, Malawi, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Zambia en Botswana, 'n hele
14,000km in 32 dae en weereens sal ek nie sommer die gevoel vergeet van
die eerste indrukke van 'n nuwe land nie. My droom om die ewenaar te
oorkruis met my yster moes egter wag vir 'n volgende geleentheid.
When Charmaine moved back to Cape Town in 2002, we met each other
through CMA's Bikers Church and again, the rest is history. The Lord
laid it on our hearts to get married, pack the bike and tour the world,
He will guide and lead us as we go, as simple as that. When you read our
tour testimony, you will see how His amazing protecting hand was with us
and where He guided us to be where we are today.
Feel
free to e-mail us at jc4ever@telkomsa.net
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