Talks with Telly

30/01/2024

We get our doggo Cannoli a waggly box every month as part of a subscription that we have had since she was a little pup and people frequently ask us, if it is worth it. We pay $45 a month and let’s breakdown what we get for that.
Each month we receive 2 new toys (we have chosen the tougher chewy toys as Oli is not gentle on her toys!) and 2 types of treats. While this does not sound like much, Cannoli loves nothing more then unwrapping her box each month! Delivery to our door is honestly just a bonus. We have only ever had issue where our box had been rerouted and disappeared and they were quick to sort it out from their end.
Pictured- Cannoli and her waggly box today!

12/10/2023

Starting off with a bang! Grillers Mark Ballarat is something I have driven past 100 times and never thought to stop in and try. This place was so clean and so aesthetically pleasing that I was immediately impressed. A man greeted us and sat us as soon as we walked in the door, with menus in hand. We were given ample time to have a look and our friendly man was back to take our order. He answered all of our questions and applied our substitutions.
We could not believe that we hadn’t tried this place before and that’s all we spoke about while awaiting our food.
So what did we order?
Mac n cheese bites- bit plain by themselves but dipped into their chilli mayo? WOW!! The mayo just bought out that flavour.
Chicken tenders- unfortunately looked like something we got out of a packet unlike tenders we have had elsewhere, bit average.
Onion rings- top side we ordered. Super crispy, onion wasn’t watery, perfectly salted.
Pork spare ribs- well Jenna cleaned her plate! They even bought her over a bowl for her bones.
Southern fried chicken burger- what more could you want? Southern fried chicken, fresh salad ingredients, thick cut jalapeños and that delicious chilli mayo!! I could eat this everyday.
Overall we settled on a 7.5/10, I have already organised a date night back there!

11/09/2023

The sun is out ☀️ we are hoping to hit the road more often and start reviewing things again

11/04/2023

Thank you Mumma J’s Strings & Crafty Things for Cannolis beautiful colour, lead and matching poo bag set. Please check out her page for all your doggos needs 💕

06/03/2023

Craving a hot pie and a donut on a cold day? Waack's Bakery in Ararat provided the goods! Best donut I have had in such a long time, super fluffy and the toppings (Mars bar perhaps? There was no sign) were incredible. Steak and mushroom pie was also on point, I wish there were more mushrooms however! Please go try a donut.

26/02/2023

We chose to meet our friends for dinner at Hop Temple because it had great reviews online. Let’s break our order down.
Appetisers;
Blooming onion- Didn’t look great, wasn’t cooked fully through, served with Chipotle sauce.
Mac n cheese- not overly cheesy which is how I like it.
Popcorn chicken- Ash loved this, beautiful coating, generous serving for an appetiser. Dipped in Chipotle, probably the highlight of the meal really.
Main;
2 x Memphis plates- While they ordered the same thing, the plates were different. Ash was unable to chew her pork belly at all, the potato salad tasted a little fruity. Sarah somehow ended up with corn bread when Ash didn’t 🤷‍♀️
Fowl play- Chicken was a bit chewy but the flavour was bang on. The bun was so soft. I would give this another go.
James ordered the special- it was a box of varying bbq meat and a pint. James barely touched it and those who know James know this is a bad sign.
Service;
Ash & I had a different server to Sarah & James. Ours was a young girl, who was incredibly friendly. She provided 10/10 for us.
Sarah and James however, their server was rude and looked like she simply did not want to be there.
You will notice there are barely any photos of our dishes, we hadn’t even made it 1/4 of the way through the apps when mains came. The rude server was the one who bought our mains out and she simply put the plates down and walked away. Poor James, we had eaten everything and chased down 3 seperate servers to work out where his food was.
4/10. I can forgive some mishaps with food, bad service can not be forgiven.

19/02/2023

11/02/2023

First super negative review.
With staying in Melbourne, generally brings good food. Even while we were on the Gold Coast a business owner there was telling us how much he misses Melbourne for the food. We really didn’t get to experience that last night. After looking online we settled on TGI Fridays because who doesn’t love a bit of a gimmick? I’ve attached our order summary so you’re able to see what we ordered.
The Mac n cheese bites, which I was so excited for as I love mac n cheese, were so incredibly dry that not even the aioli was able to soften them. We ate 1 & 1/2 before giving up and throwing them away.
The single stack burger was Ash’s- it was average at best and the glaze tasted horrendous. Bland, toppings felt old so lacking kitchen prep.
The ultimate- they forgot my onion rings, the entire reason I ordered it. My tomato was shrivelled, again lacking kitchen prep.
Wait time was an hour for take out so no chance of me going back in and getting my order fixed!
The brownie was something I could have made out of a box.
The only thing we liked out of this entire meal? The aioli. It went on our burgers, our chips (which were not shoe strings as advertised) and we ate it with a spoon.
2/10. Purely for the aioli.

11/02/2023

This is not the way I saw this review going but here we go.
This weekend we are in Melbourne for a few different family events so decided to stay at Quest in Preston for a bit of a fancier getaway then what we are used to. When sent the “pre check in” paperwork I noticed something I hadn’t seen when I booked which was a bond for the night. When I called to discuss this, the woman on the phone was incredibly condescending and spoke down to me the entire time. I do not like being spoken to like this (who does?) which set my entire mindset for this hotel stay to a negative. However when we arrived the staff at reception were so friendly and accommodating, they really turned my mood around on a dime. The apartment we stayed in was clean and had a great view of the city skyline. My one big negative was the doors inside, which sounds stupid however they were incredibly heavy and I have an injury which currently controls what I am allowed to do and I was completely unable to open the doors.
We also do our own turn down to help the staff, which presented to us the stain on the mattress protector, which felt unsanitary. A solid 7/10 stay with a few minor things.

04/02/2023

Okay okay I know I just wrote a raving review about Dr Fill. But I couldn’t resist going there last night to enjoy some delicious food. I promise I have booked us dinner else where for my next post.
What did we order last night? We started our night off with some gorgeous cocktails- a Nikki Webster & 2 frosty fruits. I was a bit apprehensive of the Nikki because it had egg white in it but oh my god. It was phenomenal. The frosty fruit tastes exactly like the ice cream, but with some spice added, the other girls loved it but it’s definitely not for me.
We tried to new chicken burger, the other beef burger & the OKC burger for starts! The chicken burger was perfectly crunchy on the outside and juicy on the inside.
The other beef burger & the OKC were perfect. The other beef burger had some lettuce and tomato where the OKC is beef, onions and cheese, I do however wish you could add things to the burgers here, I would only want pickles loaded onto them 🤷‍♀️
Our taco box consisted of - Westside, 2 x fried chicken HSP, a Manhattan and an outback tofu.
There was a reason we ordered 2 of the fried chicken HSP, this is our favourite taco hands down, it’s crispy, it has fries and the trinity of sauces you want on all HSP’s.
We ordered the outback to give it a go-it wasn’t for us!
The west side had delicious pulled beef, bacon and fries, drizzled with chipotle mayo. My goodness.
The Manhattan- there were three of us who all discovered we hated ranch. The chicken was on point, just like all the chicken here.
Loaded fries- flavour town. Best of the loaded fries we have tried. The Kiev butter is creamy and balanced lovely. I wish it was offered as a dipping sauce.

We had dessert for the first time ever here and the girls really wanted to try the Loukoumades (loaded donut balls!!!). You are able to pick 1 flavour for all 8 or have 1/2 and 1/2. They chose to have 1/2 gay time and 1/2 kinder surprise. Super sweet and the chocolate is loaded thick.

Another thing I want to point out is the staff on last night were incredibly friendly, always coming over to check in to ensure we had drinks or were clearing baskets for us to have new food. I saw some great dance moves behind the bar and heard the bar staff singing along to the music. I will never stop raving about the staff here at this location, they create such a vibe which obviously keeps us coming.

22/01/2023

If I like something, I am likely to rave about it and return there regularly. This is the case with Dr Fill in DTC. I have been a fan of these guys from the first bite of a Griffin Burger years ago. Recently they have had a menu change & we went down to try it.
What did we order? A beef burger (double beef, double cheese, fried onions, pickles, relish & mustard!), Ugly delicious burger (double onion smashed beef Pattie’s, jarlsberg, cheddar and bayoli), chicken tenders and fried chicken HSP loaded fries.
The chicken tenders were so crispy but juicy on the inside, dipped in chipotle and homemade Bayoli sauce.
Burgers were incredible, dripping with flavour and the perfect size.
The staff here are always so welcoming and are so friendly and helpful. Solid 9/10, highly recommend to anyone who will listen.

15/01/2023

I hope everyone was able to either hide from or enjoy the heat that we experienced yesterday. Today I’d like to talk about a great camping spot we were introduced to via some good friends of ours, affectionately called Fitzy. This camp ground is located on the Fitzroy river and outlet into the ocean, nestled closed to Portland.
Things to know;
Town is 30ish kilometres away, to really enjoy the scenery and relaxation this place has to offer come prepared. Portland offers dine in or take away food options if this is what you’re interested in. It also offers amenities room, which allows you to have a shower or a flushable toilet if need be.
There is a $10 fee per night, the care taker will come around and have a chat to collect. He is a lovely man who is always happy to have a conversation. He lives on site.
There are long drop toilets which are serviced daily. There are also bins located around the grounds for you to clean up after yourself.
Dogs are welcome, however owners are responsible for them and they are required to be on leads at all times.
There are some pretty groovy 4wd tracks which lead straight onto the beach, providing your car is equipped.
What’s your favourite camp site?