What’s been the most annoying thing about this World Cup so far? I know what you’re going to say, so I’m going to turn the debate on its head.

The most annoying thing about this World Cup has not been the vuvuzelas – it’s been people moaning about the vuvuzelas. Listening to that for hours on end makes you wish you had a swarm of bees in your head.

“They’re so tuneless.” “It’s just noise and no music.” “You can’t even hear the commentary.” All reasonably valid points; all totally irrelevant.

If you’re going to award the World Cup to South Africa, you have to allow South Africa to stage the tournament it wants to stage. And if that means providing a buzzing backdrop to each and every match, that’s surely a price worth paying in order to transport the world’s biggest football tournament to a country that is genuinely thrilled to be acting as host.

For those who have had their head buried in the sand for the last three days – or alternatively, had their television switched to mute – the vuvuzela is a metre-long horn that South Africans love to blow at football matches.

It is believed to have been invented in Mexico in the 1970s, although supporters of leading South African club Kaiser Chiefs claim they came up with the idea earlier by removing the rubber section of a bicycle horn and joining it to a pipe.

Either way, the vuvuzela has assumed a place at the core of South African footballing culture – and it is impossible to drive more than 100 metres in Johannesburg without being stopped by a street trader trying to sell one in ‘Bafana Bafana’ colours. (Note to office: I’ve already packed one in my suitcase to ensure I can annoy the news desk).

Saturday night’s England game was the first time I have heard thousands of vuvuzelas in a confined space at once and, initially, the effect was deafening.

Because there is no change in pitch, though, it does not take long for the sound to become little more than background noise and, believe or not, by the time the match was finishing, I’d just about forgotten the vuvuzelas were there at all.

If anything, their biggest downside is that they drown out everything else, obliterating the singing and crowd noises that are an integral part of the match-day experience in Europe.

That was a shame when the celebration following Steven Gerrard’s goal was overshadowed by some serious horn blowing but it was also an advantage at other stages of the game.

For once, I could sit through an England match without having to listen to the ‘official England band’ playing the theme from the Great Escape. If that continues, I’ll happily listen to vuvuzelas all day long.

I’M SAFELY back in Johannesburg after driving back from Rustenburg and finally feel like I’m getting the hang of South African roads.

They drive on the left over here, which is obviously a massive advantage, but a few distinctly South African rules take some getting used to.

Crossroads pose a particular test as they rarely, if ever, feature traffic lights. Instead, the rule is that the first car to arrive at the junction is the first car to leave and everybody moves in the order they pulled up to the junction.

If you’ve ever seen the cartoon Wacky Races, you can probably work out what happens when the system begins to break down.

JOHANNESBURG'S winter climate is pretty much ideal for football. It’s invariably sunny during the day, with a temperature of about 20 degrees, and I haven’t experienced a drop of rain since I’ve been here.

But it gets dark at around 6pm and once the sun goes down, the temperature drops dramatically. It was around eight degrees when England kicked off against the USA on Saturday and the jumpers and coats in the press box made it look like a Premier League match in January or February.