Melbourne can be at times difficult to discover. Hidden Secrets Tours is not about playing Bingo. There are no buses and definitely no stuffed koalas in hand. You’ll be amazed by all the secrets waiting to be discovered around Melbourne with a team of passionate local guides on an exciting half day indulgent tour…

3008docklands Magazine’s newly appointed Editor, Lisa Quittner,
contacted me to discuss new ideas, columns and features for 2009’s ‘new look’. After retrieving files from the back-burner, cutting and pasting bits and bobs from last years suggestion box and putting new spins on old yarns, I came up blank. Lisa suggested I should walk the streets to form the basis of a new column… ‘Discover Melbourne’.

I walked for miles taking notes. Intuition suggested there had to be one stone somewhere in Melbourne left unturned. Before handing over my ‘ loose ideas’ file over to Lisa, I went out one last time in search for that one elusive unturned stone and by days end, I returned with a gem. I had booked a place on one of the many walking Hidden Secrets Tours of Melbourne. Today I joined the ‘Lanes and Arcades Walk’.

Award-winning Melbourne Hidden Secrets Tours is owned and operated by fashion focussed Fiona Sweetman, the walking tours take in the city’s celebrated lanes and arcades, Melbourne’s historical, architectural and cultural insights and I quickly became immersed in the contemporary maze we had ventured into.

I quickly became immersed in the contemporary maze we had ventured into
For years I had only passed by the quirky galleries, designer boutique stores, cafes and ‘walkways’ and by stopping, discussing the how’s, why’s, history
and visions, I soon became hungry to learn and discover more about Melbourne…my rock.

Along the way I noticed our small group of eight were forging a sense of intimacy and congeniality. We were becoming a team, a team of pavement warriors in search of uncovering what makes up the Melbourne ‘vibe’ and the place many of us on the tour love to call home. Initially I thought the tours were deigned for tourists, but Hidden Secrets Tours of Melbourne are designed for locals and their interstate or overseas visitors alike.
We met some of Melbourne’s dynamic and colourful retailers and I was amazed by their enthusiasm and passion that collectively build inner-city Melbourne as a ‘must visit’ destination. With every step we took and the more our guide pointed out, I started realising just how proud and how appreciative of Melbourne I am. There are just so many hidden treasures I didn’t realise existed.

Tours have expanded to include:
‘A Vintage Outing’, ‘Melbourne By the Book Walk’ and the popular ‘Sommeliers City Walk’. And the newest for 2009 is the Upwardly Melbourne Architecture walk.. Each tour includes a drink and a special goodie bag with info and more on where you have been... Some tours even include lunch.
I know it’s been said before that a picture paints a thousand words. As a born and bred Melburnian and writer trying to present Lisa with one word to capture my experience to inspire the Docklands community to discover inner-city Melbourne with Hidden Secrets Tours, that word would simply be …… “Brilliant.”

Lanes and Arcades Tour Highlights
• Sticky Institute
• Nicholas Building Artists
• Hoochymamma Clothing
• NAB Building Vault Doors
• Peter Sheppard’s Egyptian Crystal Chandelier
• History of Block Arcade glass windows
• Hot Chocolate at Koko’s
• Retrostar Vintage Clothing
• EW Coles Lane
• Nicholas Building
• Switchboard Cafe

Tour itineraries change regularly, as new venues open. General enquiries and bookings can be made on (03) 9329 9665 visit: www.hiddensecretstours.com