Saldechin is a coffee/tea house/cocktail bar/restaraunt all in one! I've only ever been for coffee/tea/cake and lunches, and I prefer it as a place to sit and while away a bit of time over a tea/coffee snuggled up on the sofas.

The cakes and teas are wonderful, they have a very wide range of 'fancy' teas which come out in gorgeous clear glass personal 'kettles' where you can see the leaves/berries/flowers that flavour your tea.

The atmosphere is chilled and elegant - the building is beautiful and the decorating does well to enhance it. Sofas around the fringes are a nice counterpoint to the tables and chairs for dining. It is a bit of a hike to the lavs as mentioned by a previous reviewer, but it's an adventure :)

Service has always been good, staff are friendly and happy to give you advice on teas etc.

You can join their website/emailing list and they will send you details of upcoming events - I think you're eligible for 10% discount if you're a member as well...I've never remembered to claim it though so double check on their website...

Love Saldechin and I hope it's around for many years to come!

Approximate cost: $10.00

I agree with all previous reviews; excellent day out for the kids. I'll focus on the cafe since all other aspects have been covered (climbing rocking horse/toy factory/animal park).

There's a cafe onsite with outdoor seating set amidst lovely large shady trees (about 20m away from the cafe adjacent the playground and animal park) - there's also outdoor seating under cover in case of rain, and seating inside the cafe, which is airconditioned on hot days.

They provide table service, you order at the counter, they will even bring your drinks/meals over to you if you're sitting at the tables under the tree covered area.

There's a good range of typical cafe food, the coffee was quite good, $3.50 which is reasonable. It was $3.50 for a sausage roll, $4.50 for pie/pasty, which I think is normal cafe price range as well - so I think the pricing is pretty fair considering they could take advantage of the captive audience and charge over the top.

There are also picnic tables provided and you're welcome to BYO food (no alcohol of course) - which we plan to do next time - though if you wanted to treat yourself and the family you wouldn't break the budget eating at the cafe.

Service was fast and friendly. It was a little busy when we arrived but they had a good number of staff so they got through ordering quickly and the coffees were delivered fast as well.

Approximate cost: $7.00

I've been hunting for the last few years for a reliable, trustworthy, quality GP that I can get to know and who will take the time to get to know my family. I thought I had that in NAFP, however it's not to be.

I've seen a few of the doctors here at the practise now over a few years. Here are the good things I've found about the practise:

*Friendly reception staff
*If you call at 8am you can get into a booked out GP on the day as they reserve a few appts for people who call at 8am instead of totally booking out in advance
*They are good with putting you through to speak with a doctor about test results, or passing on messages from doctors etc.
*Reception staff have been very helpful with bubs (warming bottles for me etc).

The bad points are:
*Very expensive
*Doctors are lovely, however their expertise and diagnoses have not been as accurate as I would like. On one occasion with bubs the dr knew I'd made an appointment to see a specialist for my baby's problem, and I was going to her for a referral - while I was there though I asked her opinion and she refused to comment saying it was better that I wait to see the specialist on the morrow. One of the older doctors there is very happy to sit with you and take her time; however her references are extremely old black and white small textbooks and she's just not been right with a few things she's said.
*I've had one dr contradict another's advice re:baby to me in separate consults.
*Unfortunately it's just too hard to stay with the one doctor; they are rostered between them to cover the whole week, so I don't think one doctor covers all days.

Overall it's an ok practise, family friendly and lovely doctors; not so good with value for money and quality of advice/diagnoses.

Approximate cost: $65.00

I have subscribed to the CHOICE website; I mainly subscribed to help navigate the plethora of baby products on offer and choose the safest and best value for money items.

It was a great help in choosing a babyseat; I was looking at a seat at $400+ yet the seat that scored highest for safety etc. was a $150 chair stocked at BigW! We've been very happy with the seat.

The reviews done are excellent, and really allow the consumer to investigate which product is best for their circumstances. Choice publish their top choices, but also allow users to compare all the brands tested and show results for every category/facet tested. I've often found the cheapest item in a list is still good enough for our needs even if it doesn't make the top choice list; quite often the cheapest significantly outperforms the mid-price options.

The only downsides are that quite often you can't find a product review that interests you; or the reviews are a few years old. The subscription also renews itself quarterly automatically; it's ok value, but since my big buying spree with the baby I haven't reallly used it that much, so I'll be cancelling it now that I don't need it.

Overall it's a great tool and worth paying for independent, methodical advice which helps to save you money.

I had my mini-4WD washed here, the $39.95 wash (which was an extra $5 for my mini-4WD). The attendant booked me in at short notice which was good - they had quite a few cars going through but they seemed to be racing through them.

The quality of the wash was a little disappointing; there was a large black mark that wasn't there on the white paint when I left it there (it came off ok but wasn't there to start with) and in some areas it was clear they just gave it a quick wipe and didn't remove all dirt...overall it was ok but I expected more for the price and from the way the team of guys swarmed over the vehicle. I won't be going back there due to the low quality clean.

There is a 'cafe' there; though they don't really have much there in the way of food/drinks at all. I just sat in the chairs they had there and leafed through a paper while I waited. If you're going to wait maybe go for a walk and discover the amazing Lunch Bar 53 on Woodville Road...

You can pay via card, and be in and out quickly, but you don't get a sparkling quality clean for your $45.

Approximate cost: $45.00

Scene to believe had one of those Santa photo booths set up in Waverley Gardens Shopping Centre. We got a single portrait with bubs sitting on Santa's lap.
Santa was a bit miffed as it was his knockoff time and we were the last ones to squeeze in for a photo. So our Santa looks a bit like a Sour Santa in the photo...I know the suit must have been hot but it's not like we were asking him to run 4 laps of the shopping centre doing shoulder presses with the baby – just sit for 3 minutes more.
The lady taking photos and doing the bookings was lovely and managed to gee up Santa for this last onerous shoot – which really took 3 minutes as our baby is quick to smile. She helped pick the best photo and printed it up for us while we waited.
The photo quality was ok – santa and chair and paraphernalia in shot fine – though I was annoyed that they printed a 15 odd digit reference number in the bottom right hand corner. Because of Sour Santa it's not worth framing the pic, but if it was the number would have detracted from the pic.

The price was very high – about $20 for one shot. This was the cheapest option; there were many more packages with multiple shots. Totally was up to us to do it of course; but for what it was, it's expensive.

Approximate cost: $20.00

I had to have a windscreen replaced. The replacement took a couple hours as they have to allow for time for the glass to set/glue to set whatever! The workshop is kind of in the middle of nowhere, no shops to walk to or anything as it's just off Salisbury Highway. Thankfully they have a nice tidy waiting area to while away the time. They had plenty of magazines, newspapers, tea/coffee/water and a lolly jar for patrons.

The windscreen replacement was unnoticeable - which means it must be just perfect as we've had no problems since.

Service was fine; staff were friendly.

I've been a member at the AAC for a while now. I'm very happy with the membership fees and the prices for once-off entry to the pools is reasonable as well. Membership includes all classes and gym which is just fantastic value.

I'm lucky enough to be able to go during office hours, so it's not too crowded and you always get the chance to get some decent laps in without having to modify your pace due to lane traffic.

The parking is plentiful and the open lawn areas are a nice spot to sit with family or after a workout. The kids pools are great, though they can get extremely crowded which can be offputting for a youngster not quite yet comfortable in the pool.

As I'm a member, I'd finally gotten access to what I'd imagined was a sumptuous and pristine members-only changeroom; marble countertops, gold tapware, complimentary shampoo/conditioner, fluffy towels and a softly spoken concierge ready to talk me through the range of spa tratments available. What I got was a dilapidated, hot, stuffy room with the tiniest shower cubicles, broken tiles and sections that are just exposed concrete, and no baby change facilities. I think it's my own fault for imagining some kind of special privileges awaited me in that member's mecca! If I'm using the pool closest the entrance I just use the public changerooms which at least are not so close and stuffy.

I'll never use the spa/sauna/steam room but I have used them before and they were fine.

One other suggestion for them would be the addition of a few more parent's rooms; it's practically impossible to wash, dry and clothe a small baby after a swim if the baby can't yet sit/stand unaided; if there was a parent's room available then mum + dad could wrangle bubs together. There is a parents room there but I've never been able to get into it....???!!!

Overall it's a great facility though and I'm happy to be a member there.

Babies R Us is on the JB Hifi side of the monument to capitalism at Gepps Cross.

I used this store to do a gift registry for my baby shower recently. It was the best option I'd found for doing a registry; the other baby stores made you hand write what you wanted or didn't have a good system for buyers to pick up what you wanted. This store gave me one of those barcode scanner guns and all I had to do was walk around the shop and scan the barcode of what I wanted. (Gosh it was fun!). Then they generate a printed list of what you've scanned, and provide it to your shoppers when they arrive so they can see what's on the list. The list is automatically updated to reflect what's already been bought, so you don't double up.

The great thing about it was that i received a % of the value sold at the end of the registry - I can't recall if it was 10 or 20% - but basically they send you a Babies R Us gift card a few weeks after your registry closes to that % value of what was purchased from your registry. We listed a few things that we ended up buying ourselves so effectively got a % off.

The range here is quite good, perhaps not as extensive as baby bunting but still better than any other baby store. The prices are a bit more reasonable than Baby Bunting, though like any store comparisons, sometimes they were more expensive.

Their specials and sales are quite good and you can pick up some great bargains, especially in the clothing section.

The staff were very helpful - if you could pin one of them down - with the registry and also were happy to offer advice and chat to you about your new arrival.

Definitely recommend as one of the ports of call on the baby shopping circuit! Also definitely recommend the registry, even if you are only planning to buy things yourselves.

**Shopping Tip for parents** Baby Bunting provide a VIP card, though I've never seen it advertised anywhere. Make sure you ask for one. It provides you 5% discount at all times (sale stock excluded). Very handy if you're just about to start the purchasing odyssey associated with having a baby!

Baby Bunting is one of 2 baby emporiums in the Gepps Cross shopping monstrosity on Main North Road. It's next door to spotlight.

They have an extensive range of items and brands. Of course like any baby store there are totally unnecessary items but you are almost guaranteed to find anything you do need.

The staff have been very helpful for me on a few occasions, with processing returns/arranging pickup of bulky items/advice such as showing me how to tie my hug-a-bub baby carrier (best baby carrier for a mum in my opinion).

It can be a bit pricey, but keep an eye out for specials and pick up a VIP card which helps a bit with cost.

Definitely recommend even if just for a visit to start researching and checking out all the paraphernalia available.