Day 16 – Thursday 24th June [Drive back to Joburg]

Not much to report today folks. Slow start to the day in Nelspruit – little sleepy hollow [not unlike Geelong – a regional city]. I took in a bit of cooked breakfast at a local diner [Brewers], while Sash took in a few more ZZZZ’s. We are on the road before midday to try & get back to Joburg before the afternoon game.
For those keeping track of results today Italy got a nice surprise – some economy airfare tickets back to Rome – seeya spaghetti munchers – first time to not advance since 1974 – congrats to any Slovakians out there [Slovakia beat them 3-2 & advance to next stage].
The Kiwis on the other hand could not get a win against Paraguay & go home now [score was 0-0]. They did not lose a game though so can be very proud of their efforts – good first up crack since 1982.
Sean & Cairan if you get to read this my Trans-Tasman brothers, stand tall because you leave with heads high – undefeated no less. Last time a team did not win or lose a game in the group stage, they went on to win the world cup – Italy. You cannot help bad luck – until next time boys, see you in Brazil.
We took in a bite to eat at a place called Harvard Cafe – it is actually an airfield & so will plan to go there during daylight – it looks like it would be pumping during a busy day. Watched the evening games there also [Holland v Cameroon 2-1, & Japan v Denmark 3-1]. Redemption for the Japanese after 2006 – Nihon Ichiban [Japan Number 1].
We are staying in a suburb called Germiston – I reckon it might be light industrial, we will take a drive over next few days – yeah we have hired a car to get around Joburg – its not a compact location like Capetown & Durban are.
Point of interest for the day was the drive back from Nelspruit & the fire-burning on the side of the road [check photo’s] – in real life it looked much more scary – not sure what the CFA would say about this practice – once again welcome to South Africa.
Bye for now & hopefully some brighter stories over next few days.