Our last full day in Jo'burg before hitting the road again. It's been good to just put roots of some kind down for a few days, although Adam today discovered that, had we been staying here without a hire car, our visit would have been even more costly. Attempting to catch a cab from Sandton City to Martin's in Bryanston, a succession of cabbies refused to take him on the meter and quoted him a price of 250 rand (£25). Finally, he found a female cab driver who was prepared to take him on the meter. The cost of the journey was 90 rand. For fans relying on cabs to get around, it must be an expensive trip. I guess if there are four passengers, it's more manageable. Still, there's no doubt that some here are using the opportunity the tournament provides to cash in at the expense of visitors.

I had to drop off a ticket for Sunday's game between Argentina and Mexico at a hotel for a fellow Gooner flying out here at the weekend. The hotel was in the centre of town, although the junctions off the M1 road that runs through it were unfamiliar and I missed my turning. Still, it was educational driving around the city's grid system. The Indian locals we spoke to before Spain's game over a can of beer said that the Central Business District - notorious as a no go zone not long ago - was being reclaimed as the city attempts to attract visitors in large numbers and that businesses are moving back in. I remember watching a documentary by Louis Theroux about a year ago where he ventured round some of the more dangerous parts of the area at night, accompanied by a local who ran his own private security firm. There are undoubtedly still places to avoid, and the fear when trying to navigate the city in a newish hire car is that you'll drive into them. Carjacking is a problem here. However, I managed to find my way around thanks to a Hertz provided map which gave me just enough detail and the digital compass built into the rear view mirror.

There is always some hard up local patrolling to offer you the services of keeping an eye on your car. I parked outside the hotel and told him to come back in five minutes. Once I'd dropped off the envelope, I took a photo of a Tower Block which has an image of Robinho all down one side. On the other side, Cristiano Ronaldo is visible from the M1, but it's not the kind of road where you can stop to grab a photo. It's an impressive sight though. The idea of getting my camera out in this area before I arrived here for the finals would have seemed like an absolute no no. You could say the same for getting out of your car. Undoubtedly sh*t happens, but the reputation for the place as being one of the most dangerous places in the world is somewhat exaggerated. I think that basically if you don't walk around giving out body language that you are in mortal fear and treat people with respect, then in most places, that's fine. If you live in fear, it seems to me you can attract it. This applies to many things in life, not just wondering around the capital of South Africa. Self-fulfilling prophecy I think they call it. I gave the car 'minder' 2 rand 50 cents and he was happy enough.

Before our evening game, there was the small matter of England's final group match against Slovenia. We had originally considered watching the game in a Soweto Fan Park, leaving us a short journey to Soccer City to catch the Germany v Ghana match. However, with two and a half hours between the matches and having done the route to the stadium before, we realised we could make it comfortably in time if we just relaxed and watched the game at Martin's. We needed to pre-book the park and walk car park near to the stadium at a cost of 50 rand. Johannesburg is the only city that charges for football parking, but for a fiver, it's worth it parking near the stadium for the quick getaway.

As we have tickets for the last 16 game in Bloemfontein, Adam was in the position of desperately hoping that England finished second in the group so we could see their next match in the flesh. With USA v Algeria at 0-0 as the final whistle went in Bloemfontein, it looked like we would be watching Slovenia on Sunday evening instead. We turned over and it was evident that the States had just scored, or at least they were showing a replay of a goal scored by Landon Donovan. It became apparent that the US had indeed just scored, deep into injury time, and that the score was 1-0. Seconds later, the final whistle blew and the States had topped the group. As it turned out, it meant an easier run for them in the knockout stages, but Adam didn't care. We would be seeing England before he returned home. As a member of Englandfans, he has tickets for the semi final and final if England do get that far, although a quarter final with Argentina awaits even if they win against the winners of group D...

Which brings us to our in the flesh game. The journey to Soccer City was not bad at all. Sure, there was some traffic getting onto the N1 ring road around Jo'burg, and then a bit of a queue to get off it at Junction 71 to get to the Shareworld Park and Walk. As on Sunday, the place threw up a hell of a lot of dust from the ground as cars drove in to park. There are many people selling earplugs outside the stadiums on the basis that the vuvuzelas are deafening - they are not, so I've never felt the need to purchase, although I did bring earplugs from the UK on recommendation in case the volume was painful. A classic example of unused luggage, along with the insect repellent my doctor advised to avoid the chances of malaria. Anyhow, to return to the point, never mind earplugs, if anyone had had the foresight to sell dust masks they'd have made a killing.

It took us an hour and a half to get from in front of a TV watching the England game in Bryanston to our seats in the stadium. Once again we were high up, but the view was fantastic. This really is a theatre of football and a stunning stadium. It is too big to match the intimacy of a stadium like those that Barcelona and Real Madrid play in - grounds which basically just go up and up, but nevertheless it is a pleasure to watch a game of football in such a venue. The game didn't really live up to the setting, although there were a fair few chances and a cracker of a goal when it came. We heard Australia had gone two up in the second half, meaning Serbia would pay the price for Vidic's handball in the game against Ghana with elimination. So, as yesterday, both teams we were watching qualified. With Germany finishing top it means the Bloemfontein fixture on Sunday is potentially the tie of the round, although Brazil or Portugal might meet Spain which is equally tasty.

The getaway was as rapid as we could have hoped for, as we were back at the house by 11. Just as well considering we will be headed almost 600 kilometres to Durban tomorrow. On the way to the game I mentioned to Adam that I couldn't recall seeing a single person riding a bicycle in Jo'burg. Rather surreally, leaving the N1 to head down to Bryanston on heading back to Martin's, we nearly mowed one down. It's been a pleasant six days in Johannesburg, with the chance to relax a bit and become accustomed to the place.