The Gate Shop built a paling fence for our house in Clifton Hill. They used good quality timber for the fence rails and the job was completed to a high standard (and I am fussy!). They also cleaned up after themselves, including removing an old corrugated iron fence.

Approximate cost: $48/m 6"4 paling fence

I started going to Headquarters in Hampton after getting fed up with my previous hairdresser (always changing staff, felt very rushed). This is a basic salon, but it suits me fine and I have been happy with the cut.

Approximate cost: $30

I have used Pegasus Cycles to service my road bike and my wife's road bike for the past 4 years. They are quite close to where we live so it's convenient. Up until recently the service was ok, but nothing great (often take a lot longer to do repairs than estimated and the workmanship was not the best), but after my last experience I definitely won't be going back. I took my wife's bike in to have the headset bearings looked at as they were loose and the bottom bracket was a little squeaky. They replaced both parts (cost was $220, which I thought was expensive).

When we got the bike home, the speedo didn't work anymore (it's a wireless polar 725x unit). Although it had been working fine immediately before taking it into the shop, I thought that perhaps the battery had died, so I replaced it, but this didn't fix the problem.

So I went back to Pegasus and spoke with William (he is the boss) and explained the situation. The speedo had worked perfectly ever since we bought it, right up to the point we took it in for repair. I thought that they might have knocked the sensor, as it was on the front fork and they were working on this to fix the headset bearings. William said he'd send it to Polar to be repaired.
After a 3 week wait and several calls by me to follow up, I was told that Polar had repaired the unit and that there would be a $50 charge for this. I was most upset at this as I felt that this should be covered by the bike shop. After a lot of arguing, William flatly refused to listen to me, so I just left it.

This was very poor service and short term thinking and they definitely won't be getting any more business out of me.

Approximate cost: $0

We ordered fish and chips from Flaked Out last Sunday night and they were fantastic. Recently I have had some poor experiences with fish and chips shops and I was beginning to loose hope that I would ever find a good one. The fish (I had flake) was nice and thick and the batter crispy. They told us the Dim Sims were the ones from the South Melbourne market (the really huge ones) and they tasted great.
I can highly recommend this place if you are looking for good fish and chips. I'd even go as far to say that its worth driving to if you live a little way away.

Approximate cost: $6.00

I had dug up some lawn in our backyard and decided to trial some new turf to see how it worked with minimal watering. After researching online and talking to WaterPros, I settled on Sir Walter Buffalo. When I called Water Pros they said that they would order it in for me and then I could pick it up for no charge. Other places wanted to charge me a delivery fee even if I picked it up from them, because I only wanted 6m (small order). On the day that I was due to pick up the turf, they rang me at mid morning and said that someone had stolen some turf in the morning (it's delivered to their place and left unsecured) and that there wasn't enough left to fulfill my order. Without me asking, they then said that they will order some more turf in a few days and give it to me free of charge.

That was about 2 months ago and I am pleased to say that our turf is going very well and this winter we'll probably dig up more of our lawn and put in Sir Walter Buffalo in time for spring. And yes, we'll be buying it from Water Pro's.

Approximate cost: $Free

After a hard morning yesterday hiking and riding up Mt Donna Buang my wife and I called in here for a late lunch. We ordered a salad sandwich which were pretty good, although at $9.50 each they weren't cheap. Or maybe I am just out of touch with prices! It's a huge place and they were able to look after us, giving us a high chair and heating the bottle for our baby. The cakes look great too and I'd try them next time, although I'll probably try some other place next time I am in the area. There seems to be plenty of good little places to eat in the town.

Approximate cost: $9.5

Ordered pizza from La Porchetta Sorrento and were very happy with it. If you are used to La Porchetta's pizza you won't be surprised - reasonable pizzas at an unbeatable price. It's nice to be able to get food for a group when you are staying down on the Mornington Peninsula (we were in Blairgowrie) without spending a fortune.

Approximate cost: $10

Cafe Racer has recently changed hands and as a regular patron, I thought I'd note what I have seen so far. The new owners have made a few minor cosmetic changes and they have put up the prices a bit. The prices were already a bit steep, but now at $3.60 for a coffee and $6.50 for 3 pieces of toast, I reckon its a bit much. A few little things have changed too - the bread isn't as good and I preferred the old jams.

But at the end of a ride along Beach Rd, the coffee tastes good, so I'll still keep on gong there.

Approximate cost: $3.60 for a coffee

We stayed at Shepherd's View for the long weekend and whilst the views were great, the house was a real disappointment.
It started our badly as there had been some misunderstanding on behalf of the agent as they thought that we only required one bedroom, so we were in a bit of a quandary when 7 of us arrived late at night to find one bedroom open and the rest all locked. After an hour, the agent came and unlock them.
The house is supposedly 4 stars, but if it ever was checked for the rating, it must have been a long time ago. There is only one bathroom & toilet inside, which I think is not enough for a house that is marketed as comfortably sleeping 10 guests. Yes, there is another bathroom outside, but you have to go through the pool area to get to it.
I found the layout quite strange - there are two huge living areas, plus a dining area. This plus the kitchen would occupy 75% of the floor space. The remainder is the 4 bedrooms and 1 bathroom, which are all quite small.
In two bedrooms are bunks and the mattresses in these are not very good - both my wife and I were continually rolling inwards towards the center of the bed all night long. One room has a double bed and the other a double water bed.
The house is encircled by a large deck. This deck looks in bad condition, with many of the boards wobbly and need of replacement or repair. The stairs leading up from the car parking are quite steep and in the wet (as it was for us) are really dangerous when you are trying to carry your gear down.
The furniture is old and tired - a little touch like having a nicer looking TV would make the place look better. We didn't come up to watch TV & didn't turn it on once, but a cheap chunky box next to the fire place is pretty poor. Get rid of it entirely or buy a basic LCD screen.
There is a solar heated pool that was promoted as a feature of the house, yet when we arrived we were told that the filter had a leak and the pool hasn't been working for a while.
The fire is great and there was plenty of wood. Our dogs enjoyed the place immensely too. But all up we were disappointed - 4 star it's not and at the price tag it's way too expensive. We won't be back.

Approximate cost: $1365 for 3 nights

Mick from MDS came to fix our very old VM2000 intercom system. The doorbell was continuously chiming. He tried replacing the controller chip, but unfortunately this didn't fix the problem. As the system is too old, he suggested replacing it and provided a quote to do this. Mick seemed very knowledgeable on intercoms and I would definitely use him again.

Approximate cost: $99