
Drives
Season 5 Episode 2 | 50m 2sVideo has Closed Captions
A road trip expands horizons, allowing us to explore countries and continents.
The most memorable journeys are those that take us to places that stimulate the senses, nudge the nostalgia or awaken our sense of awe. A journey by road expands our horizons, allowing us to explore the depth and breadth of whole countries and continents, stopping whenever and wherever we chose.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback

Drives
Season 5 Episode 2 | 50m 2sVideo has Closed Captions
The most memorable journeys are those that take us to places that stimulate the senses, nudge the nostalgia or awaken our sense of awe. A journey by road expands our horizons, allowing us to explore the depth and breadth of whole countries and continents, stopping whenever and wherever we chose.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship- [Narrator] The most memorable journeys are the ones where it's just as much about the road to self-discovery as the destination itself.
The places that stimulate the senses, nudge the nostalgia, or just awaken our awe as we pause in wonderment at the world we live in.
A journey on foot is intimate, involved, but a journey by road will lead further, expand our horizons, and open up more possibilities than ever before.
From the mountains to the deserts, the rivers to coasts, the wildlife to the wilderness... these are the world's greatest drives.
♪ (wind blowing) For a road to be immortalized in popular culture, there has to be something pretty special about it.
And for America's Route 66, it's not so much spectacular scenery as the trip down memory line.
It's been called the Mother Road, the main street of America, and for 60 years, it was the conduit connecting small towns across the continent to the more influential urban centers.
At almost 4,000 kilometers long, the road joins Illinois and the Midwest to the beaches of California.
Along the way, it passed through six other states, becoming the country's first transcontinental highway.
It wasn't quite coast to coast, but it did connect two bodies of water, Lake Michigan and the Pacific Ocean.
Chicago, the Windy City, was undergoing a major industrial boom in the 1920s when Route 66 was first opened.
America's third largest city was becoming an international hub for business and manufacturing.
The mass production of the Model T Ford was giving the well heeled a freedom to explore far beyond the city limits.
500 kilometers down the highway, St.
Louis, Missouri, is still a popular pit stop today on the banks of the Mississippi River.
It's retained many of the heritage features from its colonial past, while embracing a more modern vibe as well.
The city's crowning glory is the 200-meter Gateway Arch.
The tallest of its kind in the world, this stainless steel artwork was built in the 1960s as a monument to America's westward expansion.
The scenery at times can be uninspiring, as Route 66 continues its largely flat path from Missouri to Kansas and deep into Oklahoma state.
The religious fervor is evident everywhere in this so-called Bible Belt, but nowhere to the same extreme as the Prayer Tower in Tulsa.
This stand-out feature on the campus of the Orwell Roberts University is a modern take on the cross.
Its observation deck represents the crown of thorns, the red coloring, the blood of Christ.
Divine intervention unfortunately did not save the U.S.
heartland from the ravages of the infamous Dust Bowl in the 1930s.
Drought and wind erosion whipped up severe dust storms, wreaking havoc on farms.
The problem was exacerbated because fields had been overcultivated, thanks to new, more efficient machinery.
Route 66 was the path to salvation for many of these farming families, who in desperation headed west in search of the fertile soils of California.
There is a certain faded glory to the communities left in their wake, ghost towns that stand as a testament to more prosperous times.
But the isolated desert-like conditions were just what the military ordered when they were searching for a sight to develop the nuclear bomb in World War II.
They chose Los Alamos in New Mexico for the top secret Manhattan Project, a team of scientists taking over a remote school as their headquarters.
The first trial of the bomb was held further downstate in a gunnery range in 1945.
(explosion) The blast was felt across the region, but it was explained to locals as an explosion in an ammunition storage area.
The rest, as they say, is history.
In the 1950s, when peace had been restored and the focus turned to enjoying life again, Route 66 became the holiday highway, transporting everyday Americans to places they'd only ever read about.
The Grand Canyon topped most people's list.
It's a 95-kilometer diversion off the road in Arizona, but one well-worth taking.
This is the Colorado River's most impressive piece of work, a massive valley 446 kilometers long, up to 29 kilometers wide, and a soul-searching 1.6 kilometers deep.
It was carved out over six million years, its rock layers a time capsule of the Earth's geological history.
Over the border into California, the Joshua Tree National Park has an interesting claim of its own.
While paying homage to its namesake, it showcases two distinct desert ecosystems, the Mojave and Colorado.
The glitz and glamor of the Californian coast is a long way removed from the industrious city of Chicago, where the drive begins, but today, it still draws people with the dream of a better life.
Sadly, Route 66 was superseded by the interstate highway system in 1985.
And while it can no longer claim to be the main street of America, it can still be driven for old time's sake, a journey through modern American history, just for the kicks.
♪ When a country claims to have the world's most spectacular drive, it has a lot to live up to.
Luckily, Canada's Icefield Parkway doesn't disappoint.
This 230-kilometer stretch of road winds its way around mountains, lakes, and glaciers in the landlocked province of Alberta.
The tiny township of Jasper is at the northern end of the drive.
It sits in the middle of the Athabasca River Valley, somewhat overshadowed by its massive neighbors.
The Rocky Mountains are never far from view on Highway 93, providing a stately backdrop to a road that was carved by hand during the Great Depression.
600 men worked for nine years, one group from the south, the other from the north, finally meeting in the middle in 1940.
If driven without interruption from heavy holiday traffic or wildlife, the journey could be completed in three-and-a-half hours, but most of the best bits would be missed along the way.
At just 21 meters high, Athabasca Falls is never going to set any records, but the sheer volume of water flow makes it worthy of a stop.
It's the precursor for one of the drive's most dramatic features, the Columbia Icefield.
(water flowing) This frozen river of ice covers an impressive 325 square kilometers, the largest of its kind in the Rockies, encompassing eight major glaciers.
This is natural history at its finest, a snapshot of how the mountains were formed hundreds of millions of years ago.
The most accessible of the eight major glaciers is the Athabasca.
It's at least 90 meters deep and a stunning six kilometers long, but a one degree rise in temperature over the past 125 years has seen its volume halve.
The Columbia Icefield straddles both the Jasper and Banff National Parks and sits around the halfway point of the drive.
As the road weaves further south, the glaciers continue to have an impact, feeding striking Lake Louise.
While its name doesn't do justice to its surreal color, it does give it a certain regal quality.
Princess Louise Caroline Alberta was Queen Victoria's daughter and the wife of a Canadian governor general in the late 1800s.
Both the province and the lake were named in her honor.
16,000 people are drawn to this natural phenomenon every day in peak season, mesmerized by its heavenly hue.
But the reason for its gem coloration is far more down to earth.
Glacial flour, or silt-like particles, are deposited into water when the shifting ice grinds the rocks around it.
(birds chirping) Officially, the Icefield Parkway ends at Lake Louise, but it's worth heading just a few more kilometers down the road.
Moraine Lake is even more startling than its better-known neighbor.
It's nestled in the aptly named Valley of the 10 Peaks and provides what is colloquially known as "the money shot."
It was once featured on the Canadian $20 bill.
The Icefield Parkway deserves all the superlatives.
It's big, it's bold, and it's definitely beautiful, a treasure trove of nature discovered by travelers, but still largely untarnished by commercialism, and truly world-class wilderness drive.
♪ It's the back of beyond, an area of Australia so remote, so isolated, it's only accessible by road for half the year.
The Kimberley is a vast expanse of mountains, gorges, plains, and river systems covering an area three times the size of England.
It's in the northwest corner of the continent, one of the first parts of Australia to be settled more than 40,000 years ago.
The region itself dates back two billion years and was once completely submerged.
Every visitor here sees red and browns and golds as the dramatic palette of the Earth is paraded in its most natural form.
Snaking its way through the heart of the Kimberley is the Gibb River Road, a 670-kilometer track, stretching from Kununurra near the northern territory border to the coastal town of Derby.
It's serious four-wheel drive country, with several river crossings that flood during the wet season from November to April.
The road was never designed as a tourist route.
It was cut out of the bush in the 1950s to help the local pastoralists transport their stock to market.
Almost half the land in the Kimberley is taken up by cattle stations, but vast distances separate the properties.
Nearest neighbors can be over 100 kilometers away.
Home Valley Station sits alongside the Pentecost River at the foot of the Cockburn Ranges.
Its spectacular location was used in the movie "Australia," starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman.
The heat is oppressive.
Even in the middle of winter, daytime temperatures are rarely below 30 degrees.
This is the authentic outback experience, long stretches of scrub occasionally giving way to something truly stunning.
The road itself is just a means to an end, but its many offshoots lead to the Kimberley's most dramatic attractions.
Mitchell Falls is a solid day of bumping along an even more remote bush track, followed by a substantial six-hour hike.
At around 80 meters from top to bottom tier, they're not the tallest in Australia, but they're arguably the most isolated and least visited.
Even when the Gibb River Road reaches its destination of Derby on the West Australian Coast, the Kimberley is still at its dramatic best.
The Buccaneer Islands were once part of the land but were flooded thousands of years ago by a rising sea.
Only the ridges and hilltops are now visible.
This part of Australia experiences the biggest tidal range in the country - up to an incredible 12 meters, creating powerful horizontal waterfalls.
The Gibb River Road, much like the countryside it travels through, can be harsh and unforgiving.
But this is the real outback.
The heat, the monotony, then moments of magic.
All part of this adventurous drive into Australia's heartland.
♪ There's a country teetering on the brink of the Arctic Circle, surprisingly green and serene in pockets but largely desolate and uninhabitable - a place of fire and brimstone that has recently been to hell and back.
A drive on Iceland's 1,300-kilometer Ring Road gives some hint of the drama that has swamped this island nation, but other scars are hidden from view.
These are a people of Viking heritage who existed on fishing and farming until midway through the 20th century Industrialization of their fleet after World War II led to great wealth and prosperity Two thirds of the population based itself in the capital Reykjavik, harnessing natural resources in every possible way.
Iceland has been fishing for whales for 900 years and is one of the few countries that refused to recognize the international moratorium on commercial catches.
Whale meat is exported and consumed locally, mainly by tourists.
For close to 60 years, Iceland was rated as one of the most developed countries in the world, but when the global financial crisis hit in 2008, its fall from grace was nothing short of spectacular.
Tough financial measures were brought in, and just as the country started to clamber its way out of crisis, Mother Nature dealt a massive blow.
A few hours' drive south east of the capital, Scafta River Valley was the scene of major destruction in 2010.
A volcano, buried beneath 200 meters of glacial ice, erupted for the first time in almost 200 years, sending a huge plume of ash into the atmosphere, which caused the biggest shutdown of air travel across Europe since World War II.
As the glacier melted, 400,000 liters of water per second flooded into the valley below, washing away everything in its path with roughly the same flow rate and force of Niagara Falls.
Fortunately, this part of Iceland is sparsely populated, so only 600 people were forced to flee from their homes, but the water mixed with millions of tons of ash to dress the entire landscape in a deep, dank coat.
A year later, another volcano, another eruption.
Only this time, Iceland's landscape was transformed in a more idyllic way.
The lake at the foot of Vatnajokull, one of the continent's largest icecaps, increased in size, and the resilient Icelanders quickly capitalized on its beauty, turning it into a new destination on Iceland's Ring Road Drive.
Despite its name, Iceland is in fact very lush in places, so the scenery along the drive is surprisingly green.
Close to two thirds of Iceland is tundra, bare plains and mountains with little tree growth thanks to erosion and the frozen subsoil.
There are no native reptiles, few land-based mammals, but there is one animal that thrives in the often-harsh sub-arctic conditions.
More than half the world's population of North Atlantic puffins lives in Iceland.
A large number of the estimated 5 million breeding pairs can be found in the Ingolfshofdi Nature Reserve, 340 kilometers from the capital on the southeast coast.
These hardy birds spend only six weeks on the ground after hatching before heading to the open sea, getting as far afield as Canada.
When they're old enough, they'll begin the long journey back to mate, but their biggest challenge is making it to adulthood with up to 15,000 great skuas hovering close by to prey on eggs and chicks.
♪ The northern part of the Ring Road diverts away from the coast as it heads back to Reykjavik and towards the country's most popular landmark.
Iceland runs almost completely on renewable energy, and while the vast majority comes from hydroelectricity, geothermal power contributes 30% of the country's supply.
And with a waste not, want not mentality, they've harnessed the excess from their main power station and turned it into something that's more than just purely pleasurable.
Icelanders believe the minerals in the subterranean water supply can heal and revitalize skin.
Researchers are currently studying the effects of silica and sulfur on the aging process.
Wallowing in the 39-degree, six-million-liter pool, aptly known as the blue lagoon.
For a reasonably small country, Iceland is a place of many contrasts.
It's a chance to see where a mountain of fire meets a river of ice, where the desolate and destroyed give way to the stunningly serene.
It's nature in the raw - the good, the bad and the ugly all thrown together in a place that lives life on the edge.
♪ New Zealand has been blessed with an abundance of natural beauty, all very conveniently on display in a fairly compact country.
If ever there was a place designed for exploring by road, it's the land of the long white cloud.
A network of highways, streets, and tracks extends from its tip to its tail with a car ferry connecting the north island to the south.
There is a fierce rivalry between the two main islands as to which has the better scenery.
But in terms of variety of landscape, wildlife watching, and ease of driving, it's hard to resist the southern regions of Canterbury and Otago.
Christchurch is a charming city that's been in the news for all the wrong reasons in recent years.
It was devastated by a massive earthquake in 2011, which killed 185 people and destroyed many of its historic buildings.
Another quake struck in 2016, cutting off access to the coastal community of Kaikoura north of the city.
The Canterbury region has undergone a major rebuild and is now back in business and the ideal starting point for a taste of New Zealand drive.
The drive from Christchurch to Dunedin is around 360 kilometers on State Highway 1.
As with most of the world's greatest drives, the real delight is in the detours.
And in this case, the repaired road to Kaikoura leads travelers to a wealth of wildlife.
Nature has very kindly arranged for a number of its marine mammals to gather together here.
Dolphins, whales, and seals are commonly spotted in and around these waters, often without having to leave the roadside.
Heading south from Christchurch offers a complete contrast to the beachside scenery.
At 500 kilometers long, the Southern Alps run almost the length of the island and are a constant companion to the road.
The peaks are covered in snow all year round, but a winter drive reveals the most generous coating.
Mount Cook is the tallest in the range at more than 3,700 meters.
There are several passes through the peaks to access the west coast, but most are weather dependent.
This drive, however, is flat and hassle free.
The road weaves its way through pastoral land to reach the sea and cruise through coastal townships.
Oamaru is famous for its resident population of the world's smallest penguins.
The little or blue penguins range in number from 50 to 200 depending on the season, and swim ashore at nighttime to nest.
An equally enticing natural phenomenon is further down the coast near the township of Moeraki.
Large spherical-shaped boulders formed in the sea floor millions of years ago have been exposed by coastal erosion.
The largest are up to three meters in diameter.
The drive ends in Dunedin, a university city which can also lay claim to New Zealand's only castle.
The Lenarch property was constructed by an eccentric businessman in the late 19th Century as a gift to his wife.
Its architecture is interesting, but it's the gardens and their view over the Otago Harbor that draw the most interest.
While this journey through New Zealand's South Island may be straightforward, it's anything but plain.
The snow-capped Southern Alps, the easily accessible wildlife, and the quaint coastal communities all combine to create a drive that captures the very essence of New Zealand.
♪ Africa doesn't do anything on a small scale.
It's a larger than life continent that encompasses ancient and natural history in a dramatic and surprisingly diverse landscape, especially considering more than half of it is desert.
Despite being our oldest inhabited territory and accounting for 20% of Earth's land, Africa is still the world's most underdeveloped region.
The idea of a road running the length of the continent was first suggested during the height of the colonial era in the late 19th century.
England had territories spread from north to south and wanted a way to link them together, so the concept of the Cairo to Cape Town Highway was born.
Unfortunately, it's never completely come to fruition.
While it is possible to drive between Egypt and South Africa, there is no single designated road.
The most popular path for modern day explorers covers more than 10,000 kilometers passing through 10 countries, beginning in Cairo with its most famous of ancient relics.
Not so many years ago, travelers would gaze at the pyramids in Giza, follow the Nile and all its history to Aswan, then catch a car ferry across Lake Nassar and the border to Wadi Halfa.
But Sudan and neighboring Ethiopia can be volatile countries to travel through, earning this stretch of the drive the dubious nickname "Hell's Road."
Instead the capital of Kenya has become a popular starting point on this epic journey south.
Nairobi is a snapshot of modern African life, a mixture of old and new thrown together in a crowded urban center of more than three million people.
But it's what's just beyond the city limits that brings travelers to town.
(flamingos squawking) Kenya has an international reputation as a safari destination, and some of the most sought-after animals are only a short drive from Nairobi.
Lake Naivasha has all manner of beast, big and small, including a resident population of hippos.
Don't be deceived by first impressions.
These docile looking creatures are considered among the most dangerous in the world.
They are highly aggressive and unpredictable, and their rotund shape masks their ability to run at up to 30 kilometers an hour.
Fortunately, around Lake Naivasha, they choose to spend their days cooling off in the water or luxuriating in mud.
The game reserve on Crescent Island is exactly what many visitors picture when they come to Africa, free roaming giraffe, zebras, wildebeest, and impala.
There are no predators in this 160-hectare sanctuary, just peaceful cohabitation of species and proof that Kenya is taking animal conservation seriously.
♪ (birds chirping) The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust runs a program to save the highly endangered black rhino along with an elephant orphanage close to Nairobi.
Poaching has become a major problem in Kenya.
It's estimated the elephant population here has declined by 85% since the 1980s.
A pair of male tusks can weigh over 100 kilograms and fetch up to $1500 on the black market.
(elephant grunting) These youngsters lost their parents to the ivory trade, and by running an education program, the Center hopes to make it safer for the orphans when they're finally rehabilitated.
Across the border into Tanzania, it's wildlife watching on a truly epic scale.
Every year an estimated two million wildebeest travel through the Serengeti in search of food.
It's the largest land-based migration in the world.
Heading south, the Cairo to Cape Town Route crosses over the Zambezi River, a body of water that has the unique distinction of connecting four countries at one place.
Where the ferry crosses from Zambia to Botswana, the borders of Zimbabwe and Namibia are also in sight.
This close connection with neighbors continues into Chobe National Park, with Namibia on one bank, Botswana the other.
This is where Africa's largest population of elephants live, at least 50,000 at last count, roughly a tenth of the estimated number remaining on the continent.
These are the largest living terrestrial animals.
Males can weigh up to 6,000 kilograms each.
Despite their massive size, elephants are herbivores.
Adults eat up to 450 kilograms of foliage every day.
They chew with four teeth, which will be replaced up to six times in their life.
When they lose the last molars around 60 years old, it's a sad fact they will more than likely die of starvation.
These are animals that are built to survive the harsh African conditions.
Their much-prized tusks help strip bark of trees for food, while their trunks act as amplifiers, allowing them to communicate messages over long distances, using vocalizations beyond the hearing range of humans.
(elephant trumpets) The reserve is considered Botswana's most biologically diverse, and at a fraction of the size of Tanzania's Serengeti, it also has the highest concentration of game on the continent.
Most of Africa's wildlife is concentrated along the fertile strip in the east and south, but as the road heads west into Namibia, the landscape changes dramatically.
The Namib Desert has the highest sand dunes in the world, some rising up almost 300 meters.
Much of the country is covered in arid terrain.
The population of almost three million is based largely in coastal centers such as Swakopmund, which retains its distinctly German character from colonial days.
The road bends south to the last destination on the transcontinental drive, South Africa's Cape Town.
With the unmistakable Table Mountain as its backdrop, the city has an enviable position, and not surprisingly, it's popular with international travelers.
It ranks second only to Johannesburg as the most visited African city.
This is a journey that needs time to do it justice and patience to deal with the inevitable issues caused by crossing so many borders.
But at the end, there's a sense of having seen the real Africa, experiencing this colorful continent in all its guises, a drive on the wild side of the road less traveled.
♪ It's the land of lakes, an incredible 30,000 of them spread liberally across the length and breadth of the country.
Cold, calm, and if you believe the stories, concealing a prehistoric creature lurking in the murky depths.
But beyond the mist and mythology lies a tranquil part of the Scottish Highlands, blissfully decades behind its nearest urban center.
This has to rank as the world's most accessible, yet wonderfully serene, scenic drive, a 183-kilometer gentle jaunt by lake and sea, hill and dale, passing history and places seemingly frozen in time.
♪ 23 kilometers north of Glasgow, where the drive begins, Loch Lomond offers a serenity the stylish city could never hope to manufacture.
It's the largest of Scotland's lakes in terms of surface area, an impressive 70 square kilometers.
However it fails to measure up to the infamous Loch Ness for water volume.
But then its deeper, darker cousin has never been referred to as "bonnie" in song.
Loch Lomond is so large it contains 30 small islands.
Some are more than likely crannogs or artificial mounds created in the prehistoric era for housing, separated from shore over time by the flow of water.
Nature is unhindered here, existing happily alongside the sprinkling of visitors that migrate to the lake's clean, uncrowded beaches.
The road is a pleasure to drive, as it hugs the numerous waterways, offering up constant vistas worth pulling over for.
There are many hints of the highland's past glories and battle scars from a time when clan wars were rife and the English and Scottish were locked in constant conflict for control of the land.
Kilchurn Castle is a mere shadow of its former self.
This 15th century property was once the ancestral home of the powerful Campbell clan.
But they abandoned it in the mid 1700s, leaving it to crumble on the northern bank of Loch Awe in argyle.
The coastal township of Oban is a little less off the beaten track and not surprisingly, attracts its fair share of visitors.
This popular fishing port is pretty without being pretentious.
Its seafaring heritage began 300 years ago as a cleaning base for a herring fleet.
It was turned into a staging point for the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II.
(foghorn blowing) Now it's the departure place for some of the 700 islands dotted off Scotland's west coast.
The Isle of Mull is second in size only to the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides, and a drive through its countryside hints at a simpler way of life, sparsely populated with very little changing over the centuries.
For all its peaceful persona, Mull and its neighboring islands have had a tumultuous past, invaded by the Irish in the 6th century and then captured by the Vikings 300 years later.
When the Scottish royalty regained control in the 13th century, some autonomy was given to the islands, but ongoing disputes saw the area revert to Scottish rule a short time later.
The one mainstay throughout the island's checkered history has been its fishing fleet, reminders of which are scattered all along its coast.
Many visitors are attracted by its reputation for seafood, and the single malt whiskey produced by its distillery.
The colorful, highly spirited past of Scotland's west coast and highlands has given way to a gentler, calmer existence.
And while the area has been touched by tourism, it's still possible to find pockets of peace and serenity on this drive away from the maddening crowd.
♪ Some roads are so obvious in their attributes, so in your face with their features, there's no point in being coy with their name.
Australia's Great Ocean Road is exactly as its title suggests.
On the coast with grandstand views of the spectacular Southern Sea.
Its stretches 243 kilometers along Victoria's cliff line from Torquay to Warnnambool.
And while the scenery is unquestionably worthy of all the accolades, there's much more to this drive than just a stunning setting.
The road itself is the world's largest war memorial, dedicated to the 60,000 Australians killed in World War I.
(shouting) Even more poignant is the fact it was constructed by 3,000 returned soldiers looking for work and a way to honor their lost mates.
A memorial arch marks the start of the drive, and statues recognize the achievements of the soldiers, who used picks and shovels to cut their way through a previously impenetrable wilderness.
It took from 1919 until 1932 to complete the project, the constant curves and corners a lasting reminder this was far from a straightforward task.
The first patch of coastline is a favorite amongst surfers, professional and amateur, keen to hit the waves at legendary Bells Beach.
While sand and sea are a major feature on this coastal drive, there is an unexpected diversity in its natural attractions.
The Otway National Park has plenty of pathways to coax visitors off road.
The water along this part of the coast can be quite treacherous.
It's been dubbed the Shipwreck Coast, the resting ground of more than 600 vessels that came afoul of the relentless waves and razor-sharp shoreline.
Explorer Matthew Flinders once proclaimed, "I have seldom seen a more fearful stretch of coastline."
Construction of the Cape Otway Lighthouse in 1848 helped stem the tide of destruction.
It holds the record as Australia's oldest working lighthouse, despite being decommissioned more than 20 years ago.
Without a doubt, the most iconic part of the Great Ocean Road features enormous works of art sculpted by wind and sea.
The Twelve Apostles are limestone formations carved out from the coast by the forces of nature.
They were originally nicknamed The Sow and Piglets, but it was felt their grandeur demanded something more biblical in their title, so there were named after the dozen disciples, even though there were only nine outcrops at the time.
Further erosion reduced that count to eight in 2005, and they all continue to shrink by two centimeters every year.
But their gradual demise is nothing compared to the collapse of the so-called London Bridge.
The double span structure was connected to the cliff until 1990, when thanks to a constant battering from the sea, it did indeed fall down, leaving two tourists in need of a helicopter rescue.
What remains is known as the London Arch.
There's nothing subtle about the Great Ocean Road, from its name to its captivating waterfront views.
But along with all the dramatic scenery, this part of the coastline has been witness to death, to destruction, and to a determination from the soldiers to do justice to their fallen.
There can be no more fitting war memorial and no more deserving drive than this one.
The need to experience things for ourselves is fueling our driving desire to discover more.
Beyond the serene, the stunning, and the spectacular, epic road trips are made all the more memorable when you take the time to learn a little about the places, the people, and the purpose of the sites along the way.
But equally, it's the diversions, the detours, and the pit stops, that make these the world's greatest drives.
♪


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