"Experience Melbourne Sights & Sounds" Melbourne by Restless-in-kl

After 10 years since my last visit in 1997, I find myself back in Melbourne. Was taking my mum on a great driving adventure from Melbourne to Sydney. We decided to start off at Geelong (from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney and changed to domestic flight Jetstar which lands close to Geelong), head on to Great Ocean Road (check out GOR travelogue) and then to Melbourne right up to Sydney via the coastal road.

It took us a week to cover this Melbourne - Great Ocean Road - Sydney coastal trip but well worth the time. Explore my Australia blog as I try to cover as many of the interesting little stops that we made on our journey and also what to do in case of an accident in your rental car in this vast country.

London Bridge at Great Ocean Road

Even more so than Sydney. There's something charming and laidback about Melbourne. There's the great food which ranges from Asian to European cuisine, great walks along the Yarra river, great shopping along the hidden alleyways and of course the great outdoors at the Great Ocean Road.

Winding along the western coast of Victoria, the Great Ocean Road offers stunning ocean views, beachside activities, laidback coastal towns and maritime villages. You will find limitless opportunities to leave everyday life behind.

Pictured here is London Bridge.

Melbourne mall

Though the plan was to make a quick stop in Melbourne after catching up with friends and then head on to Sydney on our 1-week roadtrip, we could not resist the shopping.

With charming malls like the one below, it was difficult to keep our $$$ in our purses.

• Pros:Buzzing to a different tune than Sydney
• Cons:Bad traffic in Melbourne city center
• In a nutshell:A world of its own