Who would be better suited to write a driving tour book of the Peninsula than two greenhorns?

When writer BarbarK. Dye and artist Gina Somerlock decided to put together a driving tour of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, they wondered if they knew the territory well enough.

Both were new Peninsula residents who came from other parts of the country when their husbands changed jobs. “We were nervous about doing the book,” Dye said. But then they got to thinking that maybe newcomers--for whom the Peninsula was a fresh place and a new adventure--were better suited to the task than people who had seen Malaga Cove or the Wayfarers Chapel too many times to care anymore.

After more than a year of work, the women have published “A Driving Tour of the Palos Verdes Peninsula,” which covers a 38-mile loop stretching from Palos Verdes Estates to San Pedro. Each of the 21 chapters begins at a scenic point and there are driving directions, mileage between stops, and notes on history, geology, animal and plant life. Cyclists and hikers may also use the book and some of the stops all but compel even native Angelenos to get out of their cars.

Among other things, the book talks about when to see gray whales along the coast (the time, by the way, is now), how the Point Vicente Lighthouse acquired its ghost, the growth of commercial Peninsula Center and the death of aquatic Marineland, and the time when Walker’s Cafe--a Point Fermin landmark--was a “such a dive that the roaches walked off with the food,” in the words of its owner.

The two said their greatest challenge was being concise--as Dye put it, “eliminating detail but covering everything.” Somerlock said she drove around the Peninsula several times before deciding what to illustrate.

The book grew out of training that both women started taking in September, 1986, as docents for the Point Vicente Interpretive Center, a Peninsula museum operated by the City of Rancho Palos Verdes. A driving tour was part of the training, and the two decided to take the experience and turn it into a 144-page book, combining their own research with what they learned in the docent program.

Merrill Lynch Realty paid to publish it and is distributing copies through their sales agents. It is also available for $7.95 at the Interpretive Center and elsewhere. The money goes to the center.

In the process of writing and illustrating the book, Dye and Somerlock became boosters of their new community. “I’m a wanderer at heart,” Somerlock said, “but I think I’m going to stay here. It’s so beautiful that you can’t be depressed here.”

“I like the sense of community,” Dye said. “It’s a very special place.”