The hidden Melbourne gems that the locals love

Confessions of an Australian Tour Director

Coops Old Shot Tower; Corner of Swanston and Latrobe streets, Melbourne Central

In my 20 plus years of leading tours around Australia, I cannot remember a traveller who has not been impressed by this amazingly preserved piece of architecture from the late 1800s. My clients constantly comment - the thing they love about Melbourne is the blend between old and new. Nothing encapsulates this more than the iconic shot tower preserved underneath an inverted glass "ice cream cone".

I like to walk my travellers up Swanston street, going past global giants McDonalds and Starbucks... just before Latrobe street we bank a left into Melbourne's largest shopping mall in the CBD - Melbourne Central.

Shops all round - not unlike any other mall available globally. Surprise gathers once delivered to the atrium where, above soars a shot tower graciously framed and preserved within an inverted glass cone.

The wave of commercialism that delivers us here breaks, and we are left to gaze upward at a magnificent brick relic of the past.

It's then time to look upwards to the sky.

Melbourne Central polarizes the local folk but you will be hard pressed to find anyone that has a bad word to say about, as some of us call it, "The Shottie". It was Melbourne's tallest structure up until the mid 1940s.

I remember a guest telling me the tower reminded her of an old sturdy mare from a race track that looks down on the new bright and shiny next big things. She knows she will be still around long after they have gone. Being a part owner in a slow mare I like that. The tower to me is such a lovely connection to my father's Melbourne. A beautiful, no-fuss, roll up your sleeves, and get the job done building. A time when form really did follow function.

Thanks to the work of the heritage society, the 13 story icon held on by the skin of its teeth in the 1970s as the wrecking ball loomed large. Up to 25 million shot gun pellets an hour were made here in its hey day up until the early 1960s, when lead became about as popular as the Aussie cane toad.

The pellets were made here by loading lead bars into a bucket then hoisting them to the top of the tower thanks to a pulley system. The lead was then melted down and poured liquid form through a sieve suspended over an opening in the floor. This separated the lead into droplets which then fell to the bottom of the tower into a cooling pond of water.

For those of you wanting to go deeper and learn more about the fascinating story of the tower, the link below should be heaven.

https://www.melbournecentral.com.au/our-heritage

My insider's tips, best ways to experience the shot tower and what my clients love.

Time your visit to be there on the hour to experience the famous Marionette Watch in the atrium next to the tower and watch the cockatoos get down to Waltzing Matilda. Yeah it is a bit hokey but my clients and I let our inner geek go and love it.

Visit the actual small shot tower museum, it's free and open 7 days 10am to 6pm. Entry is through another Aussie icon the "RM Williams" store.... Check out why many Aussies think RM boots are the best in the world. Plenty of my clients have bought a pair.

Perhaps kill two birds with one stone (well, not the cockatoos) and get any cash you need here. There is also a plethora of ATM machines and an OK money exchange on the ground floor in the shot tower (cash $200 or more and haggle for better rate, totally acceptable to do).

There is also a food court and the Melbourne Central underground station a level below the shot tower - in Aussie speak "yeah, nah" its a bit vanilla. For their next destination, my advice to my travellers is to head to the criminally underrated Melbourne State Library next door.