05.13.2004 - Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

My fears about driving on the left proved to be greatly overblown. It was not a significant problem at all. In fact, I was so comfortable with it by the end of the second day that it seemed natural to me.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, I drove along the Great Ocean Road, which was constructed during the Great Depression as a make-work project. It was wonderful. The drive is reminiscent of the Pacific Coast Highway in California. It twists along spectacular scenery on the coast of the Southern (Antarctic) Ocean in Victoria, southwest of Melbourne, where hills meet the sea as they do in the Big Sur region south of Monterrey. But, as much as I love the PCH and Big Sur, this drive along the Great Ocean Road is clearly even more beautiful.

Particularly in Port Campbell National Park, the coast seems almost to be the Grand Canyon or areas of Utah, such as Arches National Park, meeting the ocean. The contrast between the yellows of the rock formations and the brilliant shades of blue and green in the ocean below provides something that is missing in the spectacular Arizona and Utah locales.

In fact, this place combines features of many of my favorite places in the world. As I already said, it has the small mountains meeting the sea, like Big Sur. It is a rocky coast with thundering waves crashing against the rocks, like that in Acadia National Park in Maine. There are high cliffs above the ocean, as on Monhegan Island off the coast of Maine. The color of the water—brilliant turquoise and green—is much like the stunning color of glacial lakes in the Canadian Rockies, most notably at Moraine Lake in Banff National Park.

Add to these features some of my other favorite things—lighthouses (two nice ones), large Australian fern trees to be seen on walks through rainforests, and a few waterfalls—and the result is a road that has to earn a spot among my favorite places in the world.

RSM