Okay to be upfront, Sovereign Hill costs a lot for a family to get in. But it's so worth it, it is an amazing replica of olden days Ballarat and gold mining. The atmosphere, the actors and staff, all contribute to an amazing experience. Really enjoyable for young and old, and it's still amazing that this is a not for profit run organisation, dedicated to preserving our history. Do yourself a favour and get out there and experience it!

Approximate cost: $49.50

If you are like us wanting to stop at a local bakery and have the most beautiful, divine Vanilla Slice you will ever, and I mean ever have in your life, then Sharp's Bakery is the place to go. Never have I tasted something so divine it's truly an amazing slice. The rest of the baked goodies are nearly as good. Lovely friendly service, and fast too, even though the store was quite busy, the ladies who were serving were country friendly and able to provide us with fast yummy food.

Sharp's Bakery has won the Australia's Best Vanilla Slice in 2009, 2012 and 2014 in the Great Aussie Pie competition. So do yourself a favour - apparently the locals have to order batches of these beauties to be made to take up to family in Melbourne!

Best smoked salmon salad in the entire Ballarat Region. I loved it, tasty and with oodles of smoked salmon. But there was no gluten free or vegan desserts on offer, and the service was erratic at best. Not sure that I would go back, even if it was to taste the delicious well presented salad.

Approximate cost: $20

Went there for a girl's night out and was impressed with the courteous and efficient service. The range of meals especially salads is quite limited though and there's no gluten free or vegan options when it comes to dessert.
However their hot chocolates come with two marshmallows - which sort of won my heart. Overall a busy but enjoyable place to catch up and chat.

Approximate cost: $18.00

Clean, reasonably well appointed quiet rooms. With a flat screen television and air conditioner in the room, this charming motel proved a welcome stop over in our journey. The beds were great - really nice for sleeping on and the country style cooked breakfasts were delicious. Chriss and Neil are doing a great job and I really do recommend this place if you're looking to take a break on your journey.

Approximate cost: $148

We ordered our meals and had my son's meal arrive well before our main meals leaving him with very little to do while we ate our meals. The steak was good, the schnitzel was yummy. Good chips too. The lounge is tired and the table a little wonky, but all in all a good experience.

Approximate cost: $18

Both my partner and child use this dental practice and have found the service and quality to be very good. They are always on time, and the receptionist is always friendly. Nice range of kids toys to entertain my child before he goes in, and the dentist is very good with him, calm and patient.

Approximate cost: $500

We have an excitable but loveable Irish Wolfhound, who needs a lot of care and attention. We were thrilled by the quality, level of service and value we received from this service. She was treated like a queen, and she came out looking proud, noble and beautifully clipped and cared for.

The care and attention given to her was amazing - she is a big dog who loves people, so for us to find someone who could both care for her and get the job done to such a standard was fantastic.

Approximate cost: $65.00

We took our cat and dog into the vet and were seen quickly. The VET took us through the issues, and diagnosed the problems promptly. The reception area is a little tired, but the reception staff are very friendly and used to large dogs and quiet cats, so for us that took the stress off bringing our wolfhound in. (Space is always an issue when you have a very large dog in a small shopfront, but Greencross was large enough to accommodate her).

Approximate cost: $70.00

A very busy shop, filled with a variety of goods and services. What I liked about it, were the options when it came to different food types, so you could see all the gluten free items, and the dairy free items as they are co located together.

It was a great range, limited by the shelf space, but I could see they were trying to accommodate as many people as possible.

However the service was rushed, no doubt because of the amount of people popping in for to pick up their regular items.

Approximate cost: $5.00