I've done a number of courses at CAE - I did a Spanish language course (over a few months) and silversmithing (over a few weeks) in around 2009-10, and a beginner crochet course (half day) last year, then resin jewellery (half day) a few weeks ago.

The instructors have all been really wonderful - very friendly and approachable, all knowledgeable and clearly happy to be there. It's great to have teachers who are genuinely interested in and excited about teaching, and willing to give each person individual attention. The craft courses I did all enabled me to complete at least one project, and basically equipped me with teh skills to do whatever I wanted to do. You're taught the craft, and the teachers then give you the assistance to use that knowledge to make your own thing.

The resin jewellery course is the only one I thought was a bit overpriced. It was a few hours on a weekend and only enabled each person to make 2 little resin things, when there would have been ample time to do more. I thought that the course cost would have covered enough materials/resources to allow more, but it was still a great course and I would recommend it.

Approximate cost: $70/half day - totally depends though

I love this store, it's full to the brim with animal supplies - bedding, food, treats, toys, leashes/accessories etc. It's a family run store with friendly, helpful staff and doesn't sell live animals. I personally will never shop at pet stores or pet supply stores that sell animals, and would rather support an independent store than a chain.

They have the usual brands that other large/chain stores have, as well as lesser known ones. I've also brought a dog in there a few times, and I'm pretty sure that's allowed too!

I have seen a few doctors at this clinic over the years, and have been happy with all of them. In some ways it seems like an impersonal, CBD clinic with lots of doctors and patients, but the doctors I have seen have always been extremely thorough and caring, and given the sense that they genuinely care about me and my health/issues.

I definitely trust their opinions and feel that they provide a greater level of service and care than other clinics I have seen. I have seen a couple of doctors a few times, but every single doctor I have seen here (maybe 5 all up, over the years) has been professional, trustworthy, thorough, and had a great manner.

They are quite expensive - which is always the pay off I suppose! It's a bustling clinic with lots of people coming in and out, but I have always been able to get an appointment when necessary.

Approximate cost: $83 standard consult

I am conflicted as to how to review this surgery. I went a few years ago and saw an incredibly rude doctor - I needed a script and couldn't remember the strength of the inhaler. He looked at me with contempt and said "well, that's a bit like going to a doctor and asking for a white pill, isn't it". I was dumbfounded - couldn't get out of the place quick enough. And then when I got to the pharmacist to actually get the medication, found that he had given me a script for the WRONG medication anyway.

However, I went again last week (only because the surgery down the road was completely booked out) and saw a lovely doctor, Dr Mundae. He was very nice, and my husband mentioned that he also saw this doctor recently and thought he was fine - all you need for a simple consult.

HOWEVER. The receptionist was extremely rude. She was gruff and rude to me, but was caustic in her manner toward an elderly man who came in after me. He apparently had an appointment to see somebody, and she virtually yelled at him that "they don't work here. ONLY ON MONDAYS." The poor man had obviously called up to make this appointment and whether he had misunderstood, or the receptionist was wrong - it's irrelevant. She was so, so rude to him, yelling at him as if he couldn't speak English and was stupid, it was just horrendous and made me feel extremely uncomfortable. I really regret not stepping in. There is just no excuse for such abysmal service, particularly in a medical centre.

Approximate cost: $bulk bill

We had 3 rooms plus a staircase and landing professionally cleaned a few weeks ago, and I couldn't believe the price. It was less than $200.. when I got the quote over the phone, I had the guy repeat it twice, I thought he must have made a mistake. But no, this was the most affordable service!

The guys were late and I had to call to find out whether they were coming, but the person who answered the phone (I guess the central manager) was very apologetic and chased it up for me. I wasn't that worried, because they did a wonderful job and it didn't take that long at all.

We foster dogs, so had quite a few dog wee/poo stains on our carpet from constantly being in the process of toilet-training.. but the carpets were great by the time they were done.

I have recommended the service to my mum already and will definitely be getting them back periodically. A very quick, cheap and easy way to clean the carpets in a much more effective way than you can do yourself.

Approximate cost: $190/3 rooms + Scotchguard

Holly has been grooming my dogs for some months now, and does a great job. They always come back looking and smelling beautiful, and more importantly for me, happy and relaxed. She is also extremely gentle and understanding with my old dog, who I would not trust with just any groomer.

One of my dogs had never been professionally groomed before and at the age of about 10, had her first groom by Holly. I'm sure my dog Mim was a nightmare client from hell, but Holly did a beautiful job and Mimi wasn't upset by the experience at all. She now goes back regularly, along with my other little dog.

Holly even did an extra special groom for my dogs before our wedding, as they were in the wedding party! I would highly recommend her to anybody.

This is a great little family owned business - they're extremely friendly and efficient, and do great work. I went in one Saturday with a pair of heels that needed re-heeling in time for a wedding that afternoon, and Condello's did it for me with no trouble at all. I was happy to leave some other shoes there to get re-heeled whenever they had time, but they did them all for me so I could get everything back in time for the wedding.

I've had pet tags and keys engraved by them, and a number of pair of shoes repaired, and I highly recommend them.

My current pair of glasses (which I wear every day) are from Eyelife, and I get compliments on them on literally a weekly basis. The selection of frames in Eyelife is incredible - there are some really great brands/designers that I've never seen in another optometrist or shop in Australia. I've worn glasses since I was in primary school, and until visiting this shop, I had pretty much tried on every pair of glasses in the usual shops and not found anything particularly interesting or 'special'. They also have more standard brands and styles - it's a relatively small range, but nicely curated. I have no doubt everybody would be able to find something to suit them, and their budget.

I had walked past this shop numerous times and thought their frames selections looks awesome, but never bothered to go in. Now, I'm never going anywhere else. There are only 2 shops so it's not a huge company, and the staff are really friendly, approachable and helpful. They're happy to let you browse without accosting you, and my glasses were ready to pick up much sooner than they had led me believe. I was expecting a week or so, but it only took a day or two (from memory).

I also have a pair of prescription sunnies from Eyelife which I also love. I highly recommend this optometrist, and recommend them to everyone.

Approximate cost: $can't remember

I haven't got anything to compare this to, but my husband and I had our wedding rings made by Larsen Jewellery in October 2013. The whole experience was really easy and stress free (as opposed to everything else involved in wedding planning..!) and I would highly recommend them to anyone.

My husband just wanted a plain silver band and I wanted something plain-ish that would fit around my antique engagement ring. We were helped by Aaron, who gave us some suggestions and we both ended up with perfect rings. Mine has engraving all around, and even though we left it really late and only ordered our rings about 2-3 weeks before our wedding (oops!), both were completed in time. We were told that mine may not be complete by the wedding but that I would be able to have my non-engraved ring by then, and get it engraved after. Somehow the whole process was sped up though, and my ring was complete and engraved before the wedding. It's so nice to have someone both be HONEST about what they can do, and then exceed your expectations as well!!

We were also really pleasantly surprised by the cost of the rings. I can't even remember how much they were unfortunately, but it was something like $1,000 less than we were expecting!

Approximate cost: $cant remember!

My sister and I went in to Odyssey Nails to get manicures and shellac the week before Christmas. We've both been getting shellac for a few years, so have had the full gamut of shoddy through to amazing experiences. I thought I'd seen bad, but this was hands down the WORST experience I've ever had in a nail salon. We were both really p*ssed at the poor quality of the "manicure" (which for me was filing the tops of my nails with the electric filing wand thing...) and shellac.

I ended up with one coat of colour, which was all over my cuticles and skin, and a layer of top coat. It looked like a child had got into their mum's makeup drawer and gone experimenting - I have never had such a terrible job done on my nails. And to make it worse, because she had filed the top of my nails, it was basically impossible to actually remove the shellac. Which is what I wanted to do as soon as I walked out of the store and realised that my nails looked so disgusting. While she was doing it I thought, ok, won't be coming back here. But once I looked at my hands properly I was just angry. This place has been in business for years, and they were full when we were having our manicures, so how can they get away with this? Do they treat their regular customers with more care and attention? Did my sister and I just luck out and get a crappy nail technician or someone having a bad day who didn't care? Either way, not good enough.

I wanted shellac because I was going away for 2 weeks on my honeymoon and wanted something to last. Unfortunately I was stuck with this embarrassingly shoddy job 3 weeks before it would properly come off, during which time I got angry every time I looked at my hands, and couldn't even cover it properly with other polish.

I am never, ever going back and have warned others not to go to this salon.

Approximate cost: $35? $40?