We recently had an inspection carried out by Andrew for a house we had under contract. Andrew spent 2 and a half hours there and was extremely thorough. He checked the big things (building, structural issues, etc), but he also took the time to check all doors and windows, all cupboards, electrical appliances, etc!
We just had an inspection done on the house we are selling and the agent was impressed by the thoroughness of the inspector... I didn't want to say anything, but the inspector wasn't half as thorough as Andrew. Never checked doors, windows or cupboard doors.
I would recommend Andrew for any house you are buying, without hesitation. I know that I got the best possible report, with explanations, photos, a personal briefing after the inspection.
He is more expensive than other inspectors, but I had no hesitation paying the price, you are buying a property worth so much more!

Approximate cost: $895 (total)

I don't know why I've never reviewed Julie's business before, as she is a mobile hairdresser I just didn't think about it somehow. Julie has been cutting my hair for the past 3 years and she is wonderful! She also cuts my toddler's hair and this week she cut my Mum's hair; my Mum is not easy to satisfy but this time she was over the moon with Julie's haircut...
I always want a totally different haircut and Julie does a wonderful job every single time!

Approximate cost: $40

Carlo quoted us a reasonable amount to repaint the whole inside of the house and a little painting in our storage area. He turned up on time every morning with his team. They were friendly but professional and did an amazing job in 4 days. He even touched up our deck railings at no additional cost, and left us plenty of spare touch-up paint. Would recommend.

Approximate cost: $6900

We needed a single oven fitted where an old double oven had been and this necessitated heavy modifications. Todd installed a new shelf and doors and a new drawer. He also installed new door handles on all the kitchen doors/drawers and fixed the hinges. The quality of the work is great, but Todd can be a little disorganised, we had to wait much longer than initially estimated. However we are very satisfied with the end result and would use his services again!

Approximate cost: $1300

I asked Peter for a quote on trimming hedges and turfing about 45 sqm of garden. He was cheaper than other gardeners and I could tell that he was going to be conscientious. I was right! Peter is definitely a perfectionist, he spent a lot of time trimming the hedges and preparing the ground for the turf. He ordered the turf and laid it very quickly as he knew our house was going to be up for sale. He did an absolutely fantastic job, you just can't tell it's just been turfed! Thanks Peter!

NEVER USE THIS CARPENTER - We were quoted for a job, not a fixed price quote, but hourly rate of $50/hour for one tradesman and $30/hour for an apprentice. Two tradesmen and an apprentice arrived on the day, stayed 4 hours, during which they had to go out for material they had forgotten about and breakfast (!), did a horrible job, and then tried to charge us 5 hours at $50/h each! The work is terrible, holes everywhere on the deck railings now, huge chip off a door, two windows actually broken, window sills outside oozing lubricant, etc...

Approximate cost: $882!!!

We have a very strange door to our deck... it's a wooden, sliding, french door, and no-one wanted to touch it to change the disintegrating mesh on it. Only Terry from Mr Mesh It agreed to do it. He quote $330 for a couple of hours, BUT... it turns out this door wasn't made with screen replacement in mind and it took Terry 4 hours to change the mesh on that door. He did a wonderful job, and charged us the amount quoted, even though I insisted he charged more.

Approximate cost: $330

The Low Road got a review in the latest BMag so I decided my husband, our three year old and I should go there for breakfast this Saturday as we live nearby. Overall I think it's great, although I also think BMag gilded the picture a little. First of all, they're really busy and they don't take bookings. The owners still haven't removed the sign belonging to the previous (Thai) restaurant. You order and pay at the counter which is fine. There's a couple of large tables but the rest of the tables are really small and also very wobbly, I lost part of my tea and we waited like hawks for a wooden table to free up, which thankfullly happened before all of my tea could end up in the saucer! The food was delicious and filling. It's very good value as we had breakfast around 9.15am and at 3pm we still weren't hungry! The coffee was excellent, very happy with that. I just found the chorizo sausage a little overcooked, but still good. I had the smashed avocado and my husband had the fried eggs, nice and spicy! Pity they haven't got anything at all for children though. Waiting time was very good too. Overall, definitely worth a try!

Approximate cost: $12

Wayne came very promptly to give us a quote to re-level our house. He was the most honest and thorough restumper we got (and we got a few over for a quote!). He saw every little detail and what needed to be fixed, and what would pose problems. His quote was higher than the others but he saved our brick wall, which the others could not do. Because of his thoroughness and attention to detail, he also saved our bathroom and kitchen, which we would have certainly lost had someone else done the job. he came back a couple of days later to fix some welding and make sure all the doors closed properly. When the team left, our downstairs area (garage and storage) was cleaner than before they started the job! He had to put in an extra stump which he hadn't quoted and didn't make us pay for that stump. And when I overpaid him by $500 he came to drop them off for us! I would recommend him to anyone and use him again if we ever needed more work done on our house.

Approximate cost: $13850

My child adores the train and "boat" rides, but they do get a little expensive. The food is lovely, and the shops are tempting! They sometimes have activities for children, such as the Mad Hatters' Tea Party for Easter last year. Or workshops for decorating Gingerbread men. The ginger shop is not as well furnished as it used to be years back and I find the honey quite pricey. A nice outing for the whole family though.