We drove back to Durban through a foggy Drakensberg range and returned the car to the airport, muddy and battered. We were met there by Patrick who very kindly gave up his day to show us around Durban. We went on the north beach where several surfers were trying their luck and I went in the sea:
Following this, we went to a surfers' hot spot for night life, Joe Cool's for a pint:
We headed along the beach and I took further pictures of a lighthouse and the sea:
We visited the recently constructed Moses Mabhida stadium, host to one of the World Cup semi-finals this summer:
We also saw the Sharks rugby stadium adjacent to this:
It is proposed for the Sharks to move into the new stadium once the World Cup is over, subject to construction of sufficient executive boxes that are required by the rugby club. This struck me as a unique situation. South Africa is probably the only country in the world where a stadium like this could be used solely for rugby after a temporary footballing use becomes defunct!
We were shown around the new Gateway shopping centre and browsed the surf shops before returning to Patrick and Jeanne's house. Durban today was cold, grey and windy. It is largely a holiday town for Johannesburg businessmen, with many beach-side penthouses overlooking the surf. It strikes me as a bit tacky, somewhat like a sunnier Blackpool. The centre is run-down and slum-filled, with most of the commerce relocated to the suburbs in recent years. This seems to be a recurring problem in the country, and regeneration of city centres has taken a priority in recent times.
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