The Riversleigh Guest House is a privately run, historic guest house located at 5 River Street, Ballina. It was built in the 1880's and is the oldest two storey timber building in the Ballina Shire. When we were first moving to Ballina we stayed there for a week while looking for a house. They have 6 queen size room, each with an en-suite and room prices range from between $110 to $190 depending on the time of year. All rooms feature modern amenities including wireless internet.
Part of the Riversleigh is the River Thai Restaurant. It is situated in the dining room and veranda area. The cuisine comes from the area of central Thailand and is cooked in traditional style by experienced Thai . The food is great if you are into Thai, but I was over it by the third night.
The location is excellent, opposite Ballina pool, right in the CBD. The staff are friendly and welcoming and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay.

Blackboard at the Beach overlooks the ocean at Lennox Head. Their food is excellent, service good, and prices reasonable. Seating is predominantly outside, allowing customers to enjoy the sea breeze and relaxing ocean views as they eat. Whether you're after a snack or a three course meal, they can deliver. I've been there at least half a dozen times and have never had a meal I didn't enjoy. Highly recommended.

The RedRock Lennox Cafe in Ballina Street Lennox Head has a wonderful atmosphere with relaxing music, friendly staff, and is fully air-conditioned. I love to relax with a magazine and a cup of coffee or sit outside in the outdoor seating area and enjoy the weather.
The food is both fabulous and affordable. My favorite is the cinnamon French toast and corn fritters with poached eggs and mango relish. The lunch menu ranges from a BLT through to tempura whiting and thai chicken burgers. They also cater to both children and vegetarians and have gluten free desserts available. The service is excellent.
If you're in the area stop by and check them out! Highly recommended.

Recently I'd been having lower back pain and trouble sleeping so my wife recommended that I go see the wonderful people at Discover Chiropractic Centre in Moon Street Ballina. They were able to assess my condition, offer me advice, and provide me with the necessary therapy (infra-red, massage, alignment). Within two weeks the pain had completely gone and my sleep patterns had returned to normal. I am very happy with their work and have started having fortnightly visits to maintain my wellness.
Highly recommended!

Elite TV & Video Pty Ltd of River Street Ballina don't just fix TVs & Videos, they also fix refrigerators, washing machines, clothes dryers, dishwashers and stoves.
Our three year old LG refrigerator recently died, so a neighbor recommended them to us. We gave them a call and they came out and assessed the situation. Luckily they had the part we needed in stock, so they were able to come back that afternoon and get it running again.
Their repair people are friendly, the service was quick, the price was less than I expected, and we haven't had any problems with the fridge since. Good Work!

We have used Collins & Hume Accountants of Tamar Street Ballina for over four years now, for all of our personal and business financial advice and taxation needs. They are very professional, friendly and very good at what they do. They have saved us a small fortune and I highly recommend them.
They are also superannuation experts.

Our oldest daughter recently got married so we employed Ballina Mobile Beauty to get her and her four Bridesmaids ready for the wedding. They came to our house the morning of the ceremony and gave all five girls a manicure & facial, and then did their makeup. They did an excellent job, and cost was reasonable considering the amount of time they spent with us.
They were very friendly and good at what they do. I highly recommend them!

Our Daughter recently got married so we enlisted Chris McQueen Images of Adele Street Alstonville as her wedding photographer. He came highly recommended by a friend. They gave us one of his cards that read ...
“The flowers. The little bows. The tears of joy. The laughter and the special moment shared with family and friends. Life is not measured by breaths that we take but by the moments that take our breath away. I will tell your unique wedding story through photos that will provide a lifetime of memories. Breathtaking photos that touch your soul....”
He was very professional, his prices were reasonable, and the photos turned out great. We were very impressed.

Unlike my wife who sycophantically worships PayPal, I have nothing but contempt for their infernal organization, with the majority of my anger directed towards their telephone support staff. I recently won a Foxtel competition and was awarded an online gift voucher which was only redeemable through PayPal. However, when I tried to redeem the voucher I ran into difficulties and so I called PayPal's telephone support. They were not only completely useless, they were rude, condescending, and arrogant. Instead of listening to the problem they tried to talk over the top of me, and offered me excuses instead of solutions.
All up I wasted more than 2 hours of my life (which I'll never get back), talking to PayPal minion . In the end I gave up, hung up, and emailed Foxtel and the competition sponsor's website, both of which emailed me back the next day, telling me that they too had trouble trying to resolve the problem with Paypal. In fact the email from the sponsors said, “I have just spent an hour on the phone with Paypal and they don't seem to understand their product very well. Then they accidentally hung up on me!”
Accidentally?
Is it too much to ask for the Paypal telephone support to know their job and to have at least a rudimentary knowledge as to how their own website operates? I hate having dealings with Paypal, but since they have a monopoly on eBay (you must have a Paypal account to be a seller), I have no choice.
I sent a complaint to Paypal outlining the situation and told them I looked forward to a speedy reply. That was 72 hours ago, and still nothing. If I don't receive a satisfactory resolution to this predicament I intend on taking this matter to the Finance Ombudsman and NSW Fair Trading (and possibly the ACCC over their eBay monopoly). I'm sick of big nameless, faceless, multinational corporation trying to push the little guy around, and I AIN'T GONNA TAKE IT!
Whatever you do, don't deal with this company unless you absolutely have to, and then watch your back!

Since my eldest son moved out, it's been left to me to maintain our swimming pool, a time-consuming job which I do not enjoy. I recently convinced my wife (during a more understanding period in her menstrual cycle) to let me hire someone to take care of our pool. After a quick squiz in the yellow pages we found “Aqua Solutions Pool & Spa Care”. They provide regular service and maintenance, water analysis, and replacement parts. So now my biggest worry is to keep an eye on my wife around the pool boy. Their service is professional, and they're not sharks (ie., they won't take you for an arm and a leg). I highly recommend them!