Having witnessed the Moses Mabhida stadium on TV during the World Cup, I hoped to see it for myself before its pristine white exterior became blackened by years of abusive seagull guano. I was in Durban briefly this week, and happily had the chance to visit the arena for a couple of hours.

Having been too young to recall my last visit to Durban, the Moses Mabhida stadium provided my first real taste of the city.

As most people know, the stadium is famous for the overhanging arch that spans from one end of it to the other. An inseparable part of this is the Sky (cable) Car that travels up the arch to a viewing platform, located at a height slightly beyond the gravitational pull of the earth.

Arriving at the Sky Car terminal completely amped and proudly South African, I was told to wait for the “next scheduled departure”. Calming myself down, I had a quick bite at the Nino’s Café as I planned my assault on the viewing platform.

The restaurant/shopping area is in fact more like a Melrose Arch shopping complex than a stadium, with floor to ceiling glass entrances to the stores that fill the space under the stadium seating embankments. According to our entertaining tour guide, a new Virgin Active gym – the largest in the country - will also be moving into stadium retail space soon.

All this is part of a concerted effort to ensure that Durbanites incorporate the stadium into their daily lives on an on-going basis.

After a quick sandwich, I decided to do the stadium tour first, followed by the Adventure Walk up the opposite side of the arch to the Sky Car.

Ten minutes into the tour, and after some random information about the turnstiles and toilet seats, we entered the arena. I was immediately struck by the sheer magnitude of Moses Mabhida stadium: it is a super-structure.

The picture-perfect arena spreads out like a snow white spatchcock swan, speckled with different shades of blue and orange seats, designed to resemble the sun setting over the ocean.

Proceeding to the pitch (which has a higher thread-count than a Persian carpet), I looked for an opportunity to whip out my soccer ball and drill home a Roberto Carlos free kick, while our distracted tour guide showed excited Chinese tourists the very spot on which Kaka spat during Brazil’s goalless draw against Portugal.

The overhead arch is mesmerising from below, while the south side of the stadium is also extremely impressive. The south side was left open in order to keep the stadium in touch with the city and vice versa: those in the stadium can look out and see the city, and those in the city, can see into the stadium. The resulting vista is also very practical for referees, who can adjudicate matches from their inner-city apartments without the hassle of going to the stadium itself.

Behind the South side is a multi-purpose park that will be used as a free picnic area, particularly on match days, as well as for sports training - further evidence of bringing the city to the stadium.

All too quickly the tour was over, leaving those of us who had signed up for it (you know, the best of the best, the toughest of the tough…), to do the Adventure Walk – which proceeds up one of the two arms of the arch that ultimately merge to symbolize South African national unity. I had imagined the Adventure Walk to be a staircase wide enough for five to six people walking abreast, and in particular, wide enough not to feel as though you were only one ill-timed sneeze away from certain death. Instead, the ascent to the viewing platform is made single file, attached to a safety line (never really a good sign) at all times.

Proceeding up the arch, we passed the horizontal rungs that span the divide between the two arms of the arch: it is from the second highest of these rungs that the stadium “bungee-swing” is operated. The swing is remarkably good value for money: for only R600, tourists get to fertilise the pitch below with their choice of bodily excrement.

Given that it’s the biggest swing in the world, I was particularly interested to see whether the cable would be long enough to swing the poor sucker into the giant stadium screen (which is large enough to screen DVDs for cosmonauts on board the International Space Station). I was quietly disappointed when the human pendulum came to a halt well-short of the mark.

Pulling myself together, we rose higher and higher. Photo followed photo, until among the altostratus (at which height seagulls randomly seized mid-flight due to the low concentration of oxygen), my mobile device began to spark before fusing completely; I tossed it over the barrier suddenly disgruntled with the things of this world as we drew nearer to heaven.

Finally, we reached the viewing platform – the crow’s nest atop this flagship of stadiums. I have never been so impressed with the beauty of a man-made structure.

To sum up my feelings, it was difficult to believe that such a structure could actually exist. Let alone in South Africa (which I say hand on green heart), where we hadn’t previously seen anything like it. Ironically, this is where the stadium’s legacy lies: as a monument of the heights (no pun intended) to which South Africa rose at World Cup 2010. Although there was large foreign involvement in designing and building the stadium, it remains a reminder of what can be achieved in this country going forward.

After circling the viewing platform several times, and a brief conversation with the tour guide concerning the state of local football, it was time to begin our descent.

Stepping ruefully back down to reality, it was clear from the joggers doing laps around the stadium in the setting sun, that the people of Durban will keep this national treasure a central part of their life.

While Moses parted the Red Sea leading the Israelites to a brighter future, Moses Mabhida stadium promises Durbanites a brighter future of their own – one that might resultantly include the 2020 Olympic Games.