Lol no, but that is not the first time I have gotten that. i do know a 'stretch' but I work in a chemist and that stretch is back in the country. Weird that you are just in Albion Park, what do you do?

Oh well.. was worth the ask. I thought it would have been pretty crazy. I sort of know the guy through people..

So do you work in Wollongong itself or what?

I work in the Gong, doing solutions development.. sort of. I'm in IT anyway.

Yeah i both live and work in the gong, I work in figtree in the pharmacy. So when do you fly out?

I head over on the 1st of September.. going up to Scotland before the tour.

Cool, I leave on the ominous date of September 11th.. and I will stay a bit longer after the tour.

hey everyone
just reading your forums u all sound very keen like me lol im vanessa 19 from melbourne this is also my first time to europe and doing a contiki and i' ll be on my own so a lil nervous but also extremely excited i arrive in london i think on the 11 or 12 of sep as i am staying in italy for 3 weeks before hand atm just working my butt of cant wait

Hey Guys sorry for the late reply for some reason contiki wouldnt let me sign in grrrrr

Hey Mik, Hows your plans going so far?

Sammy, Nice to meet you finally. i could read everyones posts but i couldnt reply. we leave on the 10th. The 11th scares me a bit..

Hey Vanessa, im 19 from Perth my names Tenealle heard your from Melbourne (my favourite shopping city)..

where are you guys all staying before hand??
we ended up getting really cheap/good flights because of the recession YAHHH!!!

Hey Venessa, I'm pretty sure everyone so far will be new to Europe.. but we are all in it together so we'll be fine. How long after the tour are you staying?


Hey again Tenealle.. plans are going well. Flights and trip completely paid for.

I was going to get a cheaper flight too, but figured I needed the flexibility of it.. would have been nice to have a bit of extra spending money, but I'm thinking more and more of extending my stay.. have to see what happens.

P.S I was having sign in issues for a while too, had to go back to the first forum page and sign in then come back to the post, I think. Seems to work this time.

Apparently the travel agent said the 11th is the best date as you are more likely to get upgraded!

I am staying at Generator Hostel and staying 3 days after the tour i think...

Nice to meet you Vanessa and Tenealle! And does anyone have any ideas for saving money... it is bloody hard! And packing ideas?

Mik you are a life saver that worked.. yah
Our flights are fully flexible. Going with Cathay for a crazy price. im exited, we just got our insurance too. our trip is pretty much paid for just waiting till near the deadline.

Sammy, an upgrade would be so awesome. Aparently they fill seats from the front first so book at the back and sometimes you can get a whole row to your self. and its close to toilets etc etc.

On Saving money. i have to give 80% of my pay to me Brother matt every week cause i physically cannot save. Once the money is in his bank it cant come out until just before we leave. well it can but he wont give it back. im pretty unrealistic with my spending

Try it it works

Lol if I gave it to my sister... I will never see it again! haha

I will give it a shot though. I just hate bills because I am also doing martial arts and that is costly but I love it!

I have a whole day in London before teh trip so we should catch up, get the whole forum in for a drink! Have you thought about how to pack yet?

My brother is going on the tour too so i trust him. im too irresponsible with money.

Maybe give it to your mum or dad,??
Yeah thats an awesome idea. If people come at different times i think everyone should get together after the contiki meeting the night before

Saving ideas? Umm.. I found that I spent a lot of money on stuff that I never actually used.. so I stopped.. some of that.

I guess I'm eating less or something, because a lot of it usually disappears there. Next step is to stop shouting people when I go out.. doesn't seem to go to plan as the night continues.

As for putting it in another account.. I just started up a reward/internet saver account so I have to shuffle money when I want to spend it. I used to have all of my savings accessibly via plastic (yeah I saved a bit)

Packing is going to be difficult. I am going to be there when it gets really cold, so I'll have to bring a bit of clothing I think. There is a restriction on the Contiki tour for luggage size.. 25cm x 35cm x 75cm?? That was a guess. (not including sleeping bag) I have to decide whether I'll bring more and store it (friends/family in Europe, or at Contiki basement) I think I'll be trying to travel light though. There are heaps of posts and things on this site about people asking for packing suggestions..

Thanks heap, as for saving I think I will do the whole put it in a can you cannot get into to. And for packing... eh... trial and error i guess!

But we should definately catch up before the tour!

Cannot wait!!

Keep it interesting!!

haha savings cans. Thats gold. Its way to easy to open them with a can opener though. Good Luck!!!

So far i think weve spoken to 6 people going on the tour not including myself. Thats a start.. Im sooo exited. not long now. Im dying to get over there. I need a break ALOT