Can someone who has been on a Contiki Australia tour (at least 10 days) share with us what they think would be enough to bring to Oz for spending money. I know its hard to say since it depends on the person's spending habits, but, i know i would be looking to do a lot of optional activities and probably will be going out every night. I also will probably buy a few souvenirs. Is there a bare minimum you should definitely bring?

I brought $500 Aus. It lasted 2 weeks, and I'm not a huge drinker/going out at night person. Optionals I put on the Visa, that way I could save the cash and not have to carry so much on me at one time, as you pay for all optionals in one lump sum.

I did a 13 day tour, plus had 4 days after in Melbourne - I took £400 and only had to change an extra £20 on my very last day. That's about 800 AUD.

For the optionals, I put everything on my credit card, and that came to about £500, doing most things on offer (but no skydive!)

I'd recommend taking some extra home currency cash with you, so you can just change it if you need to. And a credit card is a great buffer.

Thanks for the tip guys.

Maid Marian - i will probably do most of the optionals also. There are a few that look repeated, for example, they have a great barrier reef cruise in the Whitsundays and in Cairns. Not sure if should just do one and save some $ instead of doing both. Are things pretty expensive in Australia (drinks at bars, shopping, food, etc.)?

Hey, I live in Australia and most places have eftpos, so u can use like a mastercard or visa and if not plenty of ATMs around. But it depends on what you do, i holidayed in QLD recently for 10 days and spent $2000. drinks are pretty expensive at least $6 for any spirit drink and not sure bout beer, prob $4 i am unsure tho, i dont drink beer. shopping depends on where u go, t shirts can range from 10 bucks to 70 bucks, same with all clothing. food well chocolate bar is $1.85, like a meal at lunch or dinner would cost between $20 and $40 again it depends where u go, or u can always go to maccas for $5. hope this helps a bit.

Hey hey I'm from QLD, drinks do get pretty expensive like patchie said, depending on what you want. If you go out clubbing it's about about $6 for a basic spirit in a glass and bottle of smirnoff in the clubs are anywhere from $9 to $11, cruisers are about $8, shots of tequila are about $6!!! But if you drink with your contiki group in the motel or something buy wine! $6 for a bottle of passion pop hahah.

Um and in aust you dont have to tip which is a plus since im about to go over and travel europe and I have to tip just about everywhere for service! It's really great doing the whitsundays, cairns if you want to save money I wouldnt worry about it too much, if you do the whitsundays you'd prob go to airlie beach which is one of the most famous tourists places in QLD. shopping can be pretty expensive like patchie said um, but just looks for places that are having sales. hope that helps too.

Thanks for all the info everyone! So i'm guessing i should probably make sure that i have at least $1500 us dollars reserved (to use for both optionals and spending on the side). I don't think i will do too much shopping, probably just souvenirs, so i should be ok in that department. Really happy about the no tipping too...that helps a lot!!

I live in Brisbane QLD and Patchie and Trace are definately on par with costs of drinks and stuff. Due to our new alcohol laws any bottled pre-mixed alcoholic beverages have an added surcharge on them, apparently to deter us from binge drinking....(I highly recommend finding a bottle shop and drinking at your hotel before you go out, you'll save heaps!!)

Make sure you allow for cover charges into clubs too, if you go out before 10 its usually free or discounted to get in, but after that time be prepared to pay anything from $7 to $25