There is plenty on offer for thrillseekers in and around Durban, writes Ben Groundwater.
There's no cheer from a crowd as you stare down at the empty stadium.
No one waves banners or calls out encouragement. There's just the whistling of wind coming off the nearby ocean and the nagging feeling you're about to plunge to your death.
Football stadiums aren't built for this. Even Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, South Africa, wasn't built with this in mind. But here you are anyway, 106 metres above the football pitch below, toeing the edge of a steel platform, a single rope latched to the harness on your waist, contemplating leaping into the unknown.
"Don't worry," the operator yells to be heard over the wind, "I do this every day."
"Do you still get scared?"
He breaks into a grin. "Of course man!"
And with that you gulp in some air, tiptoe to the side of the platform, take one last look at the ocean, the city, the green grass and the rows and rows of empty seats far below, and you do the unthinkable: you take one more step.
Durban's football stadium is not just a football stadium. Thanks to some smart thinkers who saw an empty venue and a demand for the death-defying, it's now home to the Big Rush Bungee Swing, a sort of huge pendulum that swings paying customers from a bridge high above the stands to just a few metres above the stadium's immaculate surface.
It's reflective of a theme of extreme in KwaZulu-Natal. If it's dangerous, or exciting, or foolhardy, or adrenalin pumping, there's a good chance you can do it in this coastal South African province.
There's a beautiful gorge a few hours from Durban that you can leap into. There's deep-sea fishing and scuba diving off the coast, horse-riding on the coast, and quad-biking just in from the coast.
It's an entire province of people doing things their mothers probably told them not to.
Moses Mabhida was built for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and while not exactly superfluous now, it's still empty for much of the year. What makes it special is its design, with a huge Y-shaped arch that stretches over the middle of the stadium. Some would tell you it represents the Y shape in the South African flag. Others would say it also looks suspiciously like a vuvuzela, the long plastic horns so loved by South African fans and despised by the rest of the world.
Either way, it's all the perfect place for a bungee swing, with the rope attached to the middle of the arch, and the punters (tied to the other end of the rope) leaping from a metal bridge set between the two struts as it separates into the Y shape. The freefall and subsequent swing over the stadium floor is a rush you can't even get from watching your team score a goal in the World Cup.
A few hours' drive away, Oribi Gorge offers a similar experience in wilder surrounds. The gorge forms a giant U shape, with sheer cliffs on all three sides. To aid in the defiance of death, a long wire has between strung across the gap, and a rope attached to the middle of that wire.
The other end of the rope, naturally, is attached to the paying punter as they take a couple of steps' run-up and then throw themselves over the edge of the cliff. It takes a few seconds to drop an incredible 55 storeys before the rope catches and you're swung safely over the rocks below.
Watching from the cliff-tops it's a beautiful, serene outlook punctuated by the occasional scream of primal fear as someone new takes the plunge.
Not everything in KwaZulu-Natal need be so frightening, though. There are other options. The only thing scary about a deep-sea fishing expedition off Shelly Beach is trying to figure out what you're going to do with all of those fish. Tuna are plentiful here - a few local salts reckon they've pulled in 80 fish on the best days. That's a lot of sashimi.
The scuba diving on Aliwal Shoal is similarly relaxed. With strong currents in the area you barely have to kick as you're taken on a natural tour of the large reef. You might see some dolphins, but it is famous for its grey nurse shark population - you'll see plenty of their ragged-toothed grins lurking in the reef's shadows (you wouldn't want things to be too safe, would you?).
Back on dry land in the town of Trafalgar, there's an activity that's perfectly safe for the experienced and nothing short of extreme for the rookies: horse riding. Seasoned riders look Zen in the saddle; others, like your writer, cling on like they're taming an angry bull in a rodeo.
"Be careful with that one," the guide says, pointing at my mount, "when you get down to the beach he likes to get down and roll around in the sand. Better jump off if he does that, uh?"
Great. That's why quad-bikes at the nearby Mac Banana Farm are easier to handle. You don't need to coo and pat them and form a bond. To make them go you hit the accelerator; to make them stop, the brake. They don't have a habit of rolling around in the sand either.
The bikes are a great way to take in the South African bush, to roar around and get the adrenalin pumping while seeing something of this beautiful land.
It's typical of the whole area: a little bit of beauty and an equal measure of fear. Like the bungee swing at Moses Mabhida Stadium, it's a leap of faith. But worth it.
TRIP NOTES
GETTING THERE
South African Airways flies daily from Sydney to Durban, via Johannesburg. Phone 1300 435 972 or see flysaa.com.
STAYING THERE
From a base in Durban, it's easy to access all the activities. Suncoast Towers has double rooms from $145, see southernsun.com.
SEE + DO
The Big Rush bungee swing at Moses Mabhida Stadium costs $70, see bigrush.co.za. Gorge swings at Oribi Gorge are $48, see oribigorge.co.za. Go fishing from Shelly Beach with Awesome Charters for $60 a person, see awesomecharters.co.za. Scuba diving with Aliwal Dive Centre costs $38 a dive, seealiwalshoal.co.za. Horse riders should head to Trafalgar, where 90-minute rides cost $36 - see marinabeach.co.za. For Mac Banana Farm quad-biking trips, see macbanana.co.za.
MORE INFORMATION
southafrica.net.
