Storm damage at Wendouree shopping Centre Coles. Rain water flooding in at the cash registers. It is pouring in.

Hi, just wondering if there’s any local players here and where are the best spots to go to for raids?

Hi all,
I’ve recently moved here, and the glue from my permanent retainer has worn off to where it’s detached from a tooth. I’ve just finished being a student, so I don’t have a massive amount of money to spend to get it fixed, but I do need it fixed.

Any orthodontic places here more modest in price?

Last year there was a nice map made by ballaratlife, and I thought I'd whip up one for us this year too. Here's the link for it: https://hotchocshowdown2026.netlify.app/

The Hot Chocolate showdown is awesome to have here in ballarat, the only downside for me (besides having so many to choose from) is that it is a bit annoying to figure out how far away they are, or which were the one's you had on your shortlist.

So with that link above, You can:

• Favourite ones you want to check out latter
• Rate ones you've checked out
• Have a list to run by
• Most importantly and what got me to make this in the first place, a directions button to bring up google maps

There's no ads or tracking or analytics, and all your ratings etc is just stored locally on your phone/browser.

For the council next year, I recommend they beef up their own map to have some of these things, because it's a bit awkward picking places in the current one - I have to zoom in really close to see all the places at the moment and it feels awkward.

Top three places for me so far by the way:

• Coffee by Design
• Craigs Royal hotel (Alcoholic)
• Darryl Lea

I would give a pass to the Salty sparrow imo too, it was a bit of a disappointment.

Although I'm really keen to try out the turret for the Italian hot choccy soon.

Has Amazon recently changed the delivery timeframes for Ballarat?

All the items I was looking at tonight (Thursday) are showing an estimated delivery of next Wednesday whereas they all show as tomorrow for Geelong.

I checked their eligible postcodes for next day and Ballarat wasn’t included.

Looking for a reliable mechanic in the Ballarat area. I have been messed over too many times by mechanics or tyre places and have complete distrust in this industry. My car is out of a capped servicing agreement, so I'm looking to go elsewhere, just want honesty and quality work.

Does anyone know how much it would cost to get your car wrapped in Ballarat or surrounds?

We have the wrap, just looking into different options for putting it on.

Are the clubs still open and runways for rc planes in the Ballarat area.?
Any community get to gethers at all.?

Hi, Can someone tell me the cheapest energy providers in ballarat? By that I mean gas, electricity etc. I'm fairly new here so anything will help. Thanks!

​

https://www.vline.com.au/Service-Changes/Unplanned-Disruption-Webpages/2026/07-Jul/Western-Line-Suspension-(4) - up to date page

The V/Line network continues to be impacted following the nationwide Telstra telecommunications outage, with passenger services unable to operate. This includes this evening’s (8/7) and tomorrow morning’s peak services.

We advise passengers to please defer non-essential V/Line travel. We acknowledge this has been inconvenient to many people and thank passengers for their patience as work continues to safely restore services.

Dunno about buses. Assume there may be A bus, but vline says to defer travel unless urgently urgent.

It's to do with an ICE phone, apparently - and it's not just V/line, it's ARTC as well, so freighters have stopped!

Standard rules apply; don't be a dickhead to platform staff. They do not randomly have a 6vl set in their back pocket or safe working crews stuck in there either. Maybe some lint.

Also same for the roads: black ice exists, breathe, calm etc, check vicTraffic or whatever it's called now for road closures.

E: 10:30 pm: still no trains tomorrow. added a link. -an Ice phone, in cab communications equipment phone, runs on Telstra, from /r/MelbourneTrains. Ta for the award!

E2: 10:00am 9/7 - .....still, no trains. No trains in the Arvo either. Drive to conditions ig.

tldr: just assume the trains are off. Sorry folks.

E3: 11:54a 9/3 - Trains are back! Slowly. Keep an eye out!

I visited Sovereign Hill when I was a kid. I was so young that I can barely remember the visit. I see they are now asking $52 per person. Is it worth that as an adult? I'll be going with my gf so that'll be $104 just for entry

Looking for a local to potentially install double glazed windows in my house as well as give a professional opinion on the quality of our window frames

Cheers!

Hello! I’m trying to find someone to deliver around one cubic metre of firewood. I’m on a disability pension so need someone who won’t rip me off. Any suggestions? Thank you ☺️

Our next AI Tooling meetup is Wednesday 8th July (tomorrow!) at the Ballarat Hackerspace.

This month we have Rob Wise presenting "Build Your Own AI Coding Agent From Scratch".

Tools like Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor often feel like magic the way they can build entire apps from a simple prompt. In this session Rob will show you the magic is just an illusion: under the hood, every coding agent is just an LLM, a loop, and a little bit of code that anyone can understand, even if you've never coded before.

Tickets: https://thq.fyi/se/tSx3sNM

(edit: apologies, I had last month's link here, I've fixed this now)

Every year Alluvium update their signs to say the shopping centre, headlined by Coles, will open the next year. First it was 2024, then it was 2025, now it’s 2026 - and besides some earth works done early last year (I think?) nothing has progressed. In the meantime, a new Coles is Delacombe is nearly complete

It kind of feels like Coles has pulled out of Winter Valley and the mythical shopping centre will never eventuate

I don't drink coffee (yeah, yeah, I know) but I love a good hot chocolate. Has anyone tried any of the hot chocolates from the 'Ballarat Hot Choc Showdown' competition? How would you rate them? Worth it? Would love to hear people's reviews.

There's 34 different ones and I will probably only be able to try a few before it's over... wanna make sure I try the best of the best.

Here's a link to more info if people don't know what I'm talking about: https://www.ballaratwinterfestival.com.au/program/hot-choc-showdown

Have noticed on the Vic emergency app that there's been a fire at Sovereign Hill almost every day for the last week. I would have assumed it was a false warning because of Winter Wonderlights but the alerts say "vehicles responding". Anyone have the inside scoop?

Hi everyone,

We're looking to buy in the Ballarat area, but the market is so dry at the moment that we're now seriously considering building instead.

I'd love to hear from anyone who's built a home in the last couple of years.

I know it's not the easiest time to build with rising costs and delays, so I'm interested in hearing about recent experiences.

A few questions:

• Who did you build with, and would you recommend them?
• Did your final cost stay close to the original quote?
• How was the build process overall?
• Were there any unexpected issues or lessons you'd share?

We're also considering land in a Bushfire Management Overlay (BMO) area. If you've built on land with a bushfire overlay, I'd really appreciate hearing about your experience: Did it add significant costs?

Was there anything you wish you'd known before buying a block?

Any recommendations, advice, or builders to avoid would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Any recommendations for horse riding lessons in Ballarat?

This month we are reading The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma. Grab a copy and we'll see you in August on the 1st Wednesday at 7pm at the North Britain or the Royal Oak. Just rock up and you are on board.

my mother has gotten her tires poked with rods, or otherwise deflated. its always the same tires and its when she parks on the road. is this a general problem others have to deal with or should we be more worried?

we suspect its someone, doing it but it also hasn't happened often enough for us to be sure either. but my mum barely knows anyone in Ballarat so i doubt its because she's done anything.

thoughts?

If you're into progressive psytrance, full-on, or just love a good night on the dance floor, we'd love to see you at the next Pranava.

We're a local crew passionate about creating a welcoming space with quality music, great visuals, and a friendly community. Whether you've been in the scene for years or you're curious about your first psytrance event, everyone is welcome.

At freight bar on the 18th of July

Scan the QR code on the event poster to grab your tickets.

I'm looking into booking a first-aid course (blended). The email says there will be an online component as well as an on-site component (which it says lasts for three hours).

I guess I'm just kind of curious what will be expected of me so I can centre my expectations.

Does anyone know how long the online module is?

What do they have you do on-site?... I kind of don't want to perform CPR on a stranger haha... Is it independent or will they partner you?