Originally Posted by
MSPeconomist
If you drive T all in the city of Melbourne, watch out for the trolleys and learn the rules about jug handle turns, which seem counterintuitive to outsiders. I would avoid driving anywhere near the center of the city for this reason. There are still street cars and traffic, especially on weekends, but how about the beach suburb of St Kilda (?)?
Whilst I like St Kilda (I live there!), if the OP is short on time, I would recommend driving straight from the airport and staying in Geelong - it's an easy drive of less than an hour, pretty much all on multi-lane freeway. Geelong is effectively the gateway to the Great Ocean Road - it's less than an hour from the start, so you can get a good start the next day. Geelong also has a waterfront area and good cafe's, restaurants, etc.
Depending on the time of year (in winter, it will get dark at approx. 5.30pm, whilst in summer, not until 8.30-9pm), you could even stay further, at Torquay, Anglesea, or even Lorne, which is approx. 2 hours from the airport. Lorne has plenty of accommodation, restaurants, etc and is on the beach.
Finally, a couple of corrections to your terms:
trolleys: trams
jug handle turns: hook turns