Hitching a ride to Potchefstroom

The Australian players love Potchefstroom, even if some of them struggle to pronounce it. If a suggested name change goes ahead and it becomes Tlokwe, that won't be any easier to get their tongues around. But one thing that is easy for the squad is getting to the place. They fly in to Johannesburg, board a team bus, and are there in a couple of hours.

For the average visitor it's not so simple. Especially if said average visitor is also a distinctly average driver. Trains and buses aren't really an option, so the easy solution would in theory be to hire a car. But even in my hometown of Melbourne I have the ability to wind up further from my destination than when I set off, just by getting wrong-laned or misreading a street directory.

It would not be out of the question for me to leave Johannesburg for Potchefstroom and lurch up to the Lesotho border with an upside-down map, an empty tank and a nagging suspicion that something was wrong. In the end I managed to find a local reporter making the trip and hitched a ride to Potchefstroom without bother and quickly discovered that there isn't much hassle in the town itself.

A low-key university city a fraction smaller than Geelong or Cairns, it's a million miles from Johannesburg, figuratively if not physically. Its strong Afrikaner history has to some degree made way for the new South Africa, which is clear when you travel along Walter Sisulu Avenue and Govan Mbeki Drive.

The city's big claim to fame is as a sporting centre. Potchefstroom's plethora of grounds and facilities attract top international athletes, rugby players and cricketers, and it's where Australia were based in the lead-up to the 2003 World Cup. It's also where they play their only warm-up match on this Test tour. They picked the right place for a low-key build-up.