Day 17 - Bloemfontein

Good old England, one more goal and we would have been headed back to Rustenburg but unfortunately we are now in the tough half of the group and we meet Germany in Bloemfontein. We organise accommodation, which proves to be a problem. Horror stories arise about the lack of accommodation and t e cost being charged, therefore we settle for a rented house in the Universitas region of Bloemfontein. I make a call to the FSF for confirmation but it all seems a bit overhyped.




Anyway we check out at Gariep Dam and head north along the N1 towards Bloemfontein, about a 2 hour drive away. Our first port of call is the house we’ve rented, a detached 4 bedroom house hidden away like so much of SA behind gates and security walls complete with dogs and armed response only a phone call away. Unfortunately our accommodation luck runs out, despite it being the most expensive accommodation we’ve had on this trip it’s also the worst. I doubt if the inside of this house has been decorated since the 1970’s, all chocolate brown and dingy with a lack of beds and bed spaces. It looks like the floor will be an option for a lot of people! Don’t get me wrong, the owner is a lovely lady and she’s obviously proud of what she has, but an interior designer she isn’t.

Into Bloem we go heading for the ticket office. The Waterfront is a poor attempt to replicate what they have in Cape Town but it’s still very pleasant in the bright sunshine. I stupidly forget any form of ID when I go to collect the tickets but we were told they would be available from machines using the credit card we booked with. Good in theory but bad in practice as none of the machines are working. Despite being able to quote my passport number, provide half a dozen credit cards, have the people around me produce ID including my brother, the FA officials also verify who I am, but the African lady will not produce the tickets. This is so typical of what we have seen here and is reminiscent of most 3rd world countries, give somebody a job, tell them what to do and they will do exactly that, no imagination or common sense needed here. I stand my ground and eventually she does provide what we need. I bump into Ken Malley later and he tells me a similar story although he produces a bus pass which gets him what he needs. Security, it’s laughable!

We avoid the hordes of ticket touts and settle for a waterfront cafe. The sun is really warm and for the first time on this trip we bump into lots of England fans, media guys, journalists etc. Ade spots Gabby Logan and husband; I spot a comedian off the telly but can’t remember his name so avoid asking him for his autograph. A bit of shopping gets me a clean T shirt, it’s been a long stint and most of us don’t have anything clean left. The Waterfront is beginning to resemble a typical England away game and there are a lot of familiar faces. We settle the bill, jump in the vehicles and head for the house so we can watch the next game on TV, enjoy a bottle of wine and look forward to the big day tomorrow.

The sleeping arrangements are causing us a problem and for the first time general disagreement breaks out in the group. We may have to have more evictions in the morning from the Big Brother house to restore order.