Sheppey is really getting into the spirit of the World Cup in South Africa with homes and businesses flying the flag. There are even fans from the Island out in South Africa cheering England on...

TRIP started at Heathrow where the police were stopping anyone with an England shirt, checking passports and running names through the system trying to catch fans who have banning orders etc, writes Minster resident Robbie Merriman.

As I got on the plane at 7.30pm I was shocked to see it virtually full of Mexican supporters with green shirts, large sombrero and the famous vuvuzelas and chanting 'Mecico, Mecico’.

They were all in good spirits as I chatted with them, they told me there journey had started back in the US flying to Frankfurt and then connecting at London.

As we made our descent to Johannesburg at 7.30am, the chanting got louder and louder and it was a great thing to see and hear.

Unfortunately, my attempts to sing 'England, England, England’ were soon drowned out by the annoying vuvuzelas.

As I entered the terminal, it was flooded with fans from all around the world and TV stations with their cameras – a great sight to see.

The opening game between South Africa and Mexico was completely mad we had to set off from home about five hours before the game as the streets around downtown Johannesburg were amass with thousands of people.

When we finally got in the stadium, the atmosphere was electric.

Former president Nelson Mandela was due at the ceremony but pulled out at the last minute due to a family death.

The opening ceremony saw a flypast by military jets and then music and dancers.

I met loads of Mexicans who seemed to be happy posing with me for the camera and the whole game was played with complete constant blaring of vuvuzelas which were very loud.

All in all a great first game in South Africa.

When we arrived in Johannesburg, the airport was awash with flags and colours of all the competing nations, writes former Queenborough resident Andrew Hutchinson.

Our first priority was to collect our tickets for the group games but the queue was horrendous and we joined only to discover the system was down.

As we could also collect our tickets at Rustenburg we abandoned the queue and headed off to pick up our pre booked hire car.

More queues but after an hour we were finally on our way.

We arrived at our guest house in Rustenburg and after dropping our bags, we headed into town to collect our tickets and for lunch and our first taste of South African beer.

A rare treat for travelling England fans was that beer was available everywhere with no restrictions. As kick off approached the crowd and the noise grew.

A word about the vuvuzela here – they should be banned! They are used as a weapon of atmosphere destruction designed for the sole purpose of drowning out any chanting or cheering from the opposition fans and envelope the arena in a monotonous droning din and so spoiling any chance of creating a descent atmosphere.

I thought England started confidently and when Steve Gerrard put us ahead after only seven minutes, I was convinced that we would go on to score a hat full.

Instead the goal seemed to unsettle England and the US had two or three good chances before Green’s unfortunate error.

I predicted this would be the toughest game and so it proved and the point against the US should still be enough to ensure that England will finish top of their group with the two weaker sides to come.

You know your luck is in when you get a call in the early hours to be told to pack a bag, you’re off to the World Cup, writes editor Matt Ramsden.

I got such a call from my Cape Town-based brother-in-law who had entered a competition to have a relative flown in for the opening match between South Africa and Mexico.

I landed in Johannesburg two days before the big kick off and was hit by the sound of the vuvuzelas as soon as I walked into the terminal building.

The entire city was going mad and as more and more foreign fans arrived, the sense of anticipation built.

On the day of the match, we headed into Soweto with the other 85,000 fans and enjoyed the carnival atmosphere of the greatest show on earth.

The Soccer City stadium has to be seen to be believed – photos and videos just don’t do it justice. It’s like nothing I have ever seen before and probably will again.

The noise inside was incredible and when South Africa scored the opening goal, the roar was deafening; just a shame they couldn’t hold on for a win rather than the 1-1 draw.

I watched England in a fan park in Johannesburg surrounded by people from across the world – most cheering on England and most left speechless by Robert Green’s mistake.

I flew out on Sunday after four amazing days – South Africa is buzzing and my only regret was that I couldn’t have stayed for the entire month.