Hi everyone, I'm planning to go on the Reefs and Rainforests tour this November. I'm traveling alone, and was planning to start the tour in Cairns and end in Sydney, since I want to stay in Sydney after. But I heard that if you do the tour this way, you will be joining a group of people who have already been together and know each other. I heard that for single travelers, it may be best to start in Sydney and end in Cairns, since you start with the group on that path and pick new people up as you go along. I was wondering if anyone who has done the tour before would give me any advice - does it make a big difference if you start with a group that already knows each other before you join - is it still easy to make friends? Because it would be best for me to end in Sydney, since I want to stay there after, but I am traveling alone and want to meet other people. Thank you very much for your help!
If you join the tour in Cairns, what will actually happen is you'll go up to Cape Trib with people that are finishing the reefs and rainforest reverse tour, and then will join up with a group doing the beaches and reefs in reverse - however you should be joining up with the beaches and reefs tour on their first day, or at least within the first couple
If you start in sydney you will be guaranteed that everyone on the tour is brand new - but i wouldn't worry too much about it one way or the other.
That being said, there are some cheap flights from Cairns to Sydney on Jetstar - right now flights in November are $150 - so you can also do that.
The only thing I would say is that it looks like you can't do the sailing option on the Whitsundays unless you start in sydney, and this is something i would HIGHLY recommend as long as you like being active - it's a lot of running around the sail boat and the sleeping quarters are fairly cramped, but it was my favourite part of the trip.
I did this tour last year from Cairns to Sydney and you can still do the sailing in the Whitsundays. Also, your group for the rainforest portion of the tour will be joining up with a larger group doing the beaches to reefs. My rainforest group was about 15 people and you join with the beaches to reefs on their 1st day so no problems making friends etc. Have fun!!
Agreed with what Ryan said. When I did Cairns to Brisbane nobody had done the rainforest tour. Cairns and Sydney are the major start points with many people starting -- so it's really a point to not factor in.
