My two munchkins go to an ABC centre here in Melbourne 3 days per week and they (and I) love it!

To let you know what our centre is like: the centre is big open and bright. has brightly coloured walls, crafts that the children have made hanging from the ceiling and paintings on the walls and windows. My DD started off in the Nursery (room 1 for the babies) and she is now in the Toddler room(3rd room up), my DS started in Toddler and is now in the Kinder room (last room before school). They have 5 separate rooms for age groups - Nursery 1, Nursery 2, Toddler, Pre Kinder and Kinder.

I looked at many many places before I found one I was happy with. Not all centres are the same and not even all ABC centres are the same. Like you said some of the places I looked at were dark and dingy and just plain horrid.

Good luck with it. I know how very stressful it is putting our little ones in care.