Gav Kleinhans, is a 68-year-old South African expat bush-war veteran who immigrated to Australia in September 2001 and has never looked back. His career was in accounting, IT, management consulting and insurance. Following various motor cycle trips including London to Mongolia, and many adventure rides into the deep out back of NSW, Queensland, South Australia and occasionally, the Northern Territory, he undertook on ANZAC Day 2020 a solo ride on a Honda CT110 Postie bike on an epic 3-month, 15,500km solo ride to circumnavigate Australia. Withstanding drenching rain, searing heat, pummelling winds and numbing cold, frequent mechanical challenges of a bike not designed for the task, he completed the daunting task 90 days later.
Gav used the ride to raise funds for Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), whose Tom Duggan, Alan Field spoke with on Monday Drive. Médecins Sans Frontières is currently deeply immersed in a range of dangerous and demanding humanitarian challenges; from the situation in Gaza where they have lost several dedicated staff, to the war in the Ukraine and to the ongoing civil war in Somalia to name but a few.
On ANZAC day 2024, Gav will once again head out of Sydney but this time not on a motorcycle. Instead, he will be pushing a wheelie bin loaded up with camping gear, clothing, food, water and some camera gear. His target is to reach Broken Hill following a route of some 1,150kms via Bathurst, Orange, Dubbo, Cobar and Wilcannia. This time, only aging muscles, ligaments and joints can fail him, and for the past weeks, he has been out on the roads of Bondi and its surrounds pushing a slightly modified yellow wheelie bin to build up the strength and endurance he will need for this particular challenge, anticipated to take about 8 weeks, during which time Alan Field will check in on Monday Drive each week.
Listeners can follow Gav’s progress by visiting his MSF fundraising page (or use the QR code) where he will be posting VLOG updates. Alternatively, the YouTube (youtube@postiegeezer) contains all the VLOGS from the Postie Bike ride plus the upcoming Wheelie bin walk. Hopefully, this will also generate some much-needed donations from our community for Médecins Sans Frontières.
