About JC4ever
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 Arab 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 (70 deg 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.
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 emails 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. 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.
About Charmaine
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 God’samazing protecting hand was with us and where the Lord guided us to be where we are today.
About Johan
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 sę, 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.
“Enjoy the Adventure with Us”