Yankees Driving in Australia

So, I watched a duo of Yankees driving in Australia: Adelaide to Warrnambool.

I was in the back with the teenagers–and I had to close my eyes more than once.

(I sometimes did that when my teenagers learned how to drive!)

(You can get an aerobic workout sitting beside them during that . . . learning period).

We enjoyed the eight-hour drive– when it wasn’t hair-raising.

The Aussies drive on the opposite side of the road from what we’re used to in the United States.

Let’s begin at the beginning.

What side of the car for Yankees driving in Australia?

They sit on the right side.

I’d been riding around Australia for two weeks in a van before I accompanied my daughter on her first drive.

Since she’s a former Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) and therefore a professional driver, I wasn’t worried about her taking the wheel.

Confident in her skills, I opened the car door to climb in.

“Did you want to drive, Mom?” she asked.

When I saw the steering wheel, I got out and switched sides.

Indeed, my husband and daughter were the drivers on this trip. I sat in the back with the teenagers (often singing along with them to Hamilton‘s soundtrack).

For Yankees driving in Australia? An amusing, hair-raising road!

We enjoyed the bucolic countryside that reminded us of home.

The tiny towns with one store, a school, a scattering of houses, and the occasional church were the only spots for stopping along the way.

We rode through lush vineyards, waved at sheep, and marveled at windmills on high hills.

However, we were on the east side of the road heading south, and the road signs made us laugh–when we weren’t feeling great unease.

This road is used for long-distance travelers, particularly trucks. It’s the only highway along that stretch of Southern Australia.

It’s a very busy road.

Except when it’s lonely.

Staying alive on the “wrong side“

For Yankees driving in Australia, roundabouts took more thought than usual. Sometimes, it took all three drivers to get successfully through them!

(What we love about roundabouts is how forgiving they are. If you miss your exit, you merely ride around it again.)

When I’ve traveled to other countries where folks drive on the left, we’ve noticed signs painted at crosswalks in the cities: “Look right.”

We didn’t see such warnings anywhere we traveled, but we constantly reminded ourselves to look right.

More than once, one of us yanked someone back from the brink of death.

It was safer crossing at corners with stoplights.

Some signs were straightforward and easily understood:

Sights to see on the road?

We stopped to admire Blue Lake in Mt. Gambier, then ate at a lunchroom on the side of the road.

The marvelous Umpherston sinkhole was a wonderful place to stretch our legs.

Australia is a beautiful country–especially if you travel a little further down the Great Ocean Road past Anna’s house and catch your breath at this view.

Note: The Yankees driving in Australia enabled us to see the small towns and off-the-beaten-path sights.

The two also drove to Melbourne, where they gratefully turned in the car keys for the rest of the trip!

By the time we flew home, the teenagers had traveled by plane, car, van, train, gondola, boat, subway, tram, bus, and their own two feet.

We saw and experienced so much more of the country by getting on the road!