Another busy day, even though this one started with my waking up in the same bed I would be sleeping in at the end of the day - the first time this has happened since I was in Durban. It's the beginning of a decent stretch of days based in Johannesburg and comes as a welcome break from the routine of waking up, getting all the stuff together, and driving on to find the next place. A little after a leisurely breakfast I headed down to the FIFA ticketing centre in Sandton to try and shift some spares. These are tickets for games that we applied for more than once in the belief that not all our applications would be successful. The first sales phases suggested that tickets might be hard to come by, but evidently, a good number more were released after the draw and this has left us with surplus seats.

The ticketing office had a gaggle of people outside, some touts, others like me with spares they just wanted their money back on. I managed to shift two of the four spare pairs I had. A last 16 game in Ellis Park featuring the winners of Brazil's group was snapped up by an American who seemed like a genuine fan who wanted to attend the game. I got what I paid for those. The following evening sees the winners of Italy's group play in Pretoria. I have a feeling this might not be a very attractive game - especially if Italy do not win their group. I took £200 for two category one tickets I'd paid £280 for. It was like 'Deal Or No Deal'. Should I hang on to them hoping to get face value nearer the time. In theory, it could be Italy v Holland, but more likely, it will be someone v Denmark, possibly Paraguay or Slovakia. No-one wants to pay top dollar for that, especially given the number of spares that seem to be floating around. For the less glamourous matches, it is certainly possible to pick up tickets for cheaper than face value, although for popular teams, this is not the case. So England, Brazil and the USA, for example, will always fetch at least face value and normally more. It was interesting that the trading was allowed to go on so blatantly outside of FIFA's ticketing centre, with staff around not giving two hoots about it.

Adam had originally wanted to attend both the matches in Rustenburg (6pm finish) and Pretoria (8.30 kick off), but I said that, as we had another match in Rustenburg, I could do without the stress. It is possible to get between the two venues in time, but that's with parking close by, and there was no guarantee we could do that. As it turned out, Adam's flight from Cape Town was delayed so there was no way we could have made it in reality. So I had a couple of spares for the Australia v Ghana match and these were being sold at way below face value by others with spares for that game. So I have two unused tickets for a World Cup match. Adam and I took a fall of £55 each for them, but that's life. My only concern now is a pair of Category 1 spares I have for the last 16 game in Port Elizabeth. It might be Uruguay or Mexico v the runners up in Argentina's group. Possibly a tough sell. My best bet will be on the day when I get there as no-one in Jo'burg is planning to travel that far for a game that doesn't capture their imagination.

A couple of Gooner newlyweds - Sarah and Donnie - are here for the second part of their honeymoon, having begun it in Mauritius. They suggested meeting up, and when they found out we were going to the Denmark v Cameroon match in Pretoria, requested a lift on the basis that I had told them they could buy tickets there, even though the match was sold out. They are staying in Melville, and as our host Martin was over that way, he offered to pick them up. Once back at his place, I then took them to Oliver Tambo airport to pick up Adam, fresh from the appalling England performance in Cape Town. I turned onto the wrong motorway en route and this led to a tour of the west side of Johannesburg which we could have done without. It wasn't a great day for me behind the wheel, culminating in my confusing a policeman (around midnight) with someone directing traffic around roadworks and driving past him before Adam informed me he was requesting me to stop. He was checking on drunk drivers, but was happy I was not over the limit when he realised that we were strangers in town with a map book trying to find our way somewhere.

With Adam's flight being delayed, our going the 'scenic route' to get to the airport was not a problem. We even had time to switch the hire car with the dodgy tyre. As they had nothing in the class of a Honda Jazz, they were forced to upgrade us, so after picking up Adam we drove away in a Kia Sportage. I know nothing about cars, but this thing seems like a tractor to me. Huge. We're undoubtedly getting more than we paid for.

The journey to Pretoria was fairly painless. We parked up on the street near a park and walk place, five minutes from the stadium. Sarah and Donnie went off on a successful mission to buy their tickets, whilst Adam and I killed time by watching the last hour of the Australia v Ghana draw in an African restaurant. We then used up another hour in an internet cafe. The area where the stadium is set seemed a much nicer one than most. Some are situated away from habited areas and there is nothing to do except go in. Somewhere like Ellis Park is located in an area where the only businesses that offer food and drink are petrol stations. It was a good vibe, and it is a shame I won't have time to see the city properly. The Loftus Versfeld is situated quite a way from the centre, in what seems a fairly well to do area.

The stadium itself is another old one. Like Ellis Park, a great place to watch a game of football, but nowhere near the standard of the newly-built ones in terms of facilities. I have never seen such a crowd of people trying to use a toilet at one time. Some gave up and went behind walls. It reminded me a bit of the West Stand at Highbury in the way there were too many people for the space on the concourse. The atmosphere was another cracker, and when an African team is involved, there seems just a little more volume to the vuvuzelas. Cameroon responded by taking the lead, but ultimately, Denmark were just a little more composed when they had their chances, and we were treated to a goal from the self-styled World'd Greatest Striker himself, Nicklas Bendtner. As the clock ticked down, Cameroon almost seemed as if they'd given up, as if a draw wasn't even going to be good enough to bother chasing. So they are out, probably meaning an easier game for Holland against them and a first place group finish for Robin Van Persie's team.

Regarding lack of space at the stadium in Pretoria, it was worse than Arsenal's new stadium for too few aisles for too many seats. It would have taken at least ten minutes to reach the concourse after the game if we'd remained in ours near the back row of the upper tier. So we headed down and grabbed a couple of vacated ones near the exit. The early leavers phenomenon is as pronounced here as it is back at Arsenal. People just do not want to get stuck in traffic. So far, we've avoided that through not hanging about at the final whistle and making sure we are near an exit. Whether or not the roads become gridlocked after matches, I do not know. But so far things have been relatively efficient. We'll see what happens on Sunday evening at Soccer City, but I suspect, as it's a Sunday, the traffic won't be too bad.

We dropped Sarah and Donnie back off at their guesthouse in Melville and then drove back. It was a challenge navigating the city's road system, but we managed it, although not without missing a turn here or there. Still, I am slowly getting the feel of this place. Next game is Brazil v Ivory Coast. After that, I am halfway through in terms of matches attended. I am enjoying this tournament, although I will confess the one negative aspect is needing to get to games so early to avoid either traffic jams or being forced to park too far from the stadium. It would be better if there wasn't a huge two and a half hour gap between the 6pm finish of the day's second game and the final one at 8.30, as it might then be possible to find somewhere to watch the previous game before heading for the stadium and not having to wait an eternity for kick off.