Gday all,

My name is Jamie im male 24 from melbourne, im going on the contrasts tour on the 15 may, anyone else going on this date? From reading everyones posts it seems most people are going around june/july, maybe ive booked a little too early?? When the tour finishes all i know is that i will be staying somewhere in europe and working, not too sure where yet but most likely to be london. I wanna stay in europe and travel as much as my money situation will allow. I have never travelled overseas so im really looking forward to it but not really knowing what to expect... If anyone else is leaving may 15 or are keen to travel after the contiki let me know

hey jamie, my names pat, im 28. from mackay. going on the tour with you. im going to be in town for two nights before the tour. I will be staying at the RN.it seems the bus is full as the rates section no longer has the date available. might be just that noone else has found the message board?
whats happening with you before the tour?

Hey Jamie, Pat,
                        My name is Candace, 23 from Sydney and I will be on the tour with you. It's going to be awesome I can't wait!! I actually got the last seat on the tour so I know that it is booked out, so don't stress. A friend living in london went on the exact same tour last year and said it was excellent. Also, I am looking to work, live and travel for a while after contiki so I will be more than happy to join you because I will be doing a lot of stuff on my own too. I will be in london for a week before the tour but will probably be staying at the R.N. the night before the tour leaves too. I'm so excited about it, but also quite nervous at the same time. Keep in touch.

hey hey! how close is it getting. 6 weeks, 6 days. Awesome.
Well its great to find that we have a full bus.
Have you been reading other peoples travel logs?
It's going to be go go go all day everyday.
Bring it on i say. this trip for me is a taste of life overseas. there is a chance that i will move and do some work over there but we'll see how things go. life on a bus for 29 days.
I drove past a bus the other day, seeing a sign on it that said carries 50 people, and thought. i'm living on that for a month. sobering thought.

hey candace.
                    I recieved my contiki pack with all my tickets and stuff yesterday. Hows your saving going? i'm hoping to take about A$5-6000 over. whats your budget going to be like? have you thought about checking up on french/italian phrases on the net? i think i'm going to be fine with ordering food and buying a drink or two in french. but someone will have to buy the drinks in italy. their language is all french to me.
Ha Ha, get it. it's all french! ok ok lame joke.
So where do you work? i'm guessing you don't really care about what the management says about you going overseas for a couple of months. myself, i work at the local autobarn as store supervisor. they werent really happy about giving me 5 weeks off. but i explained if they wouldn't give it to me i would quit and when i got back i would see if they needed me again... they gave me the 5 weeks off.
I'm flying into heathrow airport at 5 in the morning on saturday the 13th. nothing is going to be open, don't know how long it takes to get from heathrow to the RN but i bet it's still not open whenm i get there. do you know what time the basement opens?
anyway, hear back from you.
bonjour, ciao.

Bonjour, Comment allez -vous?,
            It's getting pretty exciting now. But the trip will be much longer for me than for you, so I am a little nervous at the same time. But I can't wait! I got my contiki pack today too!! In terms of european phrases, I'm not really up with the lingo except for the basics, so perhaps you will be ordering the meals for me....I'm sure I can take care of the drinks! I'm good at that!! It should be fun either way though.
         I have actually just finished an Honours Degree in Marine Science. I am taking a year off and working in retail as well (Barbeques Galore and at Sydney Airport). And then next year when I come back from overseas I am going on to do a PhD in Marine Science. So, as far as savings go, its not as much as I would like to have but I am doing ok. Budget wise, a friend of mine who is living in London budgeted for $170 AUD a day, however she said most of the time she didn't spend it. And most of the money she did spend was on alcohol, funnily enough.
That sucks about getting in at 5 in the morning, but I think it is probably an hour or so from heathrow so you might be lucky enough that it is open. But surely something will be open at that hour. Even if it is something at the airport where you could grab some breakfast or something to waste sometime. I'll ask the friend who is living in london, she will know. Anyway, best be off now, talk to you later.
Candace

Hey Hey! So. marine scientist? do you get to put those cool letters after your name? yeah, i forgot your getting there a week before me. so you have only like 4 weeks to go. can remember when it was 6 months.
ive been reading peoples blogs about contiki trips. really good idea of what to expect. if your a drinker the other travellers highly recommend that you buy a heap of alcohol cheap someplace and take it back to room if you don't want to be buying spirits for 5 euro a hit.
little bit worried about the arrival time in london at 5. even with an hour on the tube with my bags i still will have a two hour wait for the basement to open at 8.00 so i can stow my lugage for the day. just what i didn't want to do. hunker down like a tourist with my bag and daypack beside me sitting down leaning against the wall on the sidewalk for two hours.
was reading in the contiki pack that they could organise a day trip to stonehenge. That would be the one thing that would make my stay in england the best. don't think i'll make it though. hopefully wont be too badly affected by jet lag. just need to make sure i have a good nights sleep on the plane about 8 hours from england. oh well, time shall see.
Later!

G'day from WA Pat and Candace!
I'm Troy, 23 from Perth! I'm on your tour too... Can't wait now.
I get to London at 6am on 12th May and will be staying with friends in Brixton, London.
Haven't yet booked the Royal National the night before the tour, but might be staying around the corner still close enough to go to the pre-departure meeting the night before and be back early in the morning. Apparently its cheaper!
I've got 4 months off work so hopefully have enough money to get me through it all. I think i'll manage!
After Contiki i'm in London for a week, then Scotland to visit my long lost rellies for 2 weeks then Spain, Portugal, back to Rome, Croatia and possibly Turkey. Contiki is the only set tour i'm doing in the whole 4 months though. The rest is up to me!!!
I fly back to Perth on 29th August 2006.

hey troy.
             So thats 4 people that look at the message boards. good to have you on board. Are you planning to work overseas during the 4 months? or have you been saving for the past 3 years to pay for the whole 4 months? Im meeting up with my best mate over there for the two days before hand.but would like to meet up with a couple of people for a drink or two the night before the trip.
"if you cant find a pub in london, your not really looking"

gonna be a fun month. cant wait. Later!

Hey Guys,
                It's getting so close now!! I'm getting heaps excited now. I working hard to earn some last minute cash before I go. But we are going to have an awesome time. I'm looking forward to meeting you all. I would be more than happy to meet up for a drink or two (or ten) before the tour goes. Keep me posted. Hopefully we get some more people from our tour on this board soon tho!!
Talk soon guys
Candace

I have enough money saved plus I will get paid for 3.5 out of 4 months that i'm away cause I have a heap of leave owed to me from work. It took me about 8 months to save!!!
I will try and catch up with you both before the pre-tour meeting but will be pretty busy before we leave.
Will keep you posted!
Troy

Well, Im sick.
                    Got a bug or flu thingy bout two days ago and it's turned into a chest and head cold. every time i cough it feels like my head will explode. will be fine in a couple of days, As my friend said today, better to get sick now than in 3 weeks time. aint that the truth. anyway, popping pills and slugging cough medicine should have me right soon.

Catch you later.

hello all

I'm April 23 from Sydney and will be joining you on the trip. I think i leave on 13 May and stay at the RN. Can't wait myself but still need to save alot more cash. Only going over for the trip and not staying on longer as i have to come back to work. Not long to go now.



April

Hi April, nice to meet you.
             Well, your the fifth of 50. did you know about the message board before hand or did you just stumble across it?
I would have thought that there would have been a lot more people interested in who their travelling companions were.
i'm in the same boat as you. heading over there, doing the tour and leaving straight away. I could probably stay for longer but means more money spent and to be honest i think 30 odd days in 11 or so foreign countries is enough travelling for me. for at least a year or two anyway

hope in the future to possibly do egypt and greece. but we'll se what happens on this tour.

Ciao, Bon soir for now.

Pat.

Hi all,

I only just stumbled across this message board and thought I?d say a quick hello even though we will all be meeting each other in less than a month. My name is Achelle, 20, from Perth, Western Australia. I arrive in the early evening of the 14th and am staying at the RN. I will be staying for another 3 weeks in Europe after the Contiki with no set plans. My total trip is for 9 months (advantage if being a uni student) and am really looking forward to meeting all of you and hitting the vino together!

See you soon,
Achelle