Hi,

My friend & I just booked the Bridge to Reef tour from Sydney to Cairns for Nov09 (3rd-15th). We're from the US, ages 25 and 26. Hopefully we will have good weather and meet some new people. We are heading out to Sydney though on Oct 31. So we will get an extra few days in Sydney. We also book the extra 3 nights at the same hotel contiki has us at on the 5th so that we don't have to switch hotels.

We didn't book our extra nights through contiki though, b/c it was $75/pp per extra night (include continental breakfast). I found $51 per night through Kayak.com. The hotel for Syndey on the website hasn't been updated. Contiki no longer use the Travelodge. The new hotel they have a contract with is Chifley Potts Point, Darlinghurst Road. Kings Cross, NSW 2011, Australia, incase anyone is interested in doing the same.

Hope to meet some other people thinking of going on this tour as well.

See ya soon!

Ashley

This message has been edited. Last edited by: amp300,

Hi guys

Im looking to do this tour too, but I thought it started on the 5th not the 3rd?! hhmmm I may be wrong
I've got my flight dates and stuff sorted, Im from London, travelling alone, hoping to book this week, just having one last attempt at seeing if I can persuade anyone to come with me!.

Be great to meet some people before like you say!

Flic

Flic,

Wow, you are lucky! I haven't checked to see if anyone had replied to my thread, bc they say alot of people don't go on the forums!! And you just replied 2 days ago.

You are right it is the 5th through the 15th. We are going out a few days earlier. We will arrive in Sydney on Nov2. We figured we'd get an extra 3 days in. Plus we'll be in Sydney during the Melbourne Cup, which we thought would be fun. And we booked the extra nights at the same hotel everyone will meet at in sydney online really cheap. Cheaper then the price contiki gave, bc their's includes breakfast - which we fig we could go out and get food cheaper!

You should be ok traveling by yourself, my friend has done these tours on his own before. I just could never travel alone! But people are friendly, - I know my friend and I are, we make friends where ever we go. We just got back from a cruise and met alot of people from Australia on it.

Can your friends not get off from work or they just don't want to go?

W/b, let me know if you need any info or help with your booking!

Ashley

Hi! Wow we almost have the same plans! My friend and I are from NY (both 30) and we are taking this tour at that time too. Plus we are flying in early, landing on Nov 1. We're staying at the same hotel pre tour. Should be a lot of fun!

I have created a Facebook Group for this tour

Bridge to Reef/Ocean to Outback 11/5/09

Hey JimBrayFan, We are 26/25 from CT/NJ. Yeah we seem to have the same idea! Nice!

Hey guys! I'm also doing this tour on these dates. I can't believe i'm finally going to go to Australia!! I'm travelling alone also, 24 year old Female from New Jersey. Anybody heard anything good/bad about this tour?

Hey Goska, saw your other posts, you have so many good questions haha...my friend and I are thinking all the same things..i keep feeling like i'm going to forget something or wish i did something differntly when I get back. I feel like I need to write it all down in like my own personal guide.

where abouts are you from in jersey, my friend who's going lives in jersey.

1 month and 2 weeks away! yay!

When are you flying out? My friend an I are flying there on Oct 31, gonna spend a few extra days in Sydney.

Did you get a converter&adapter? We have been lookig for one, some are a adapter-but not a converter..and then i found two at bed, bath & beyond. but one said not for curling irons etc..the other said not for electronics or rechargeable batteries. We're like what the heck!! trying to find something to charge camera, my friends straightner, ipod. I think we are going to just buy a hairdryer when we get there, we figure for the little bit of money between us we can just buy one. I'm still trying to figure out how to pack? between weather, day time, night time, not sure what we will be doing, going out at night, etc...how is all this stuff gonna fit!!

I haven't heard anything bad..a friend of mine has done two contiki tours. and he liked both. My friend and I put together a sheet of stuff that we wanted to do and prices of stuff.

Do you havou have an idea of stuff you want to do on the tour?

Hope to hear from you.

Hey Ashley!

I'm so glad you replied...i was getting worried that no one would! LOL. I looked at the date we are leaving and it looks like the tour is almost full, yay!

Yeah, i had a lot of questions and still do actually hehe. I feel like you do, seems like there is a lot to pack and i can't remember it all. I still have to buy a bunch of stuff. I have an adapter from another trip that has AU on it so i don't need to get that but i do need to get a converter. I had no idea that some of them only allow certain things to go into them. Also, i was thinking of maybe bringing a rain coat, lots of shorts and tanks, a few warms clothes, flip-flops, dressy sandals. I just don't want to bring too much or too little.

I live near Clifton, NJ. Where does your friend live? Where do you live?

I'm going to be flying out Nov 3 in the evening so i should be landing in Sydney around 8am on the 5th. I hope im not going to be too tired and jet-lagged to enjoy the day and go out that night. I wish i could come in early like you guys and spend a few extra days there.

Do you guys have an idea of which optionals you might do? I posted a question about which ones are the best but no one replied I would love to do all of them but i just don't want to be broke by the time i get back haha. I think i'm probably going to do most of them, with the exception of the hot air ballooning. How much are you bringing for spending/optionals? I was thinking maybe between $1500-$2000. Hope thats enough!

I'm so psyched, i really can't wait to go! I did a Contiki tour to Greece in 2004 and i have to say, it was the best trip i ever did. That's why i opted to go on this one, but i have to go alone, which i'm totally up for! Almost hereee

Hey I know I had done my first post a long time ago and no one was say yes I’m going like I had seen on other blog posts. I was trying to see where you saw it was almost full, I was searching the other day for our trip and I could never find the bridge to reef, just looked now that I saw your post and you’re right it does say almost full!! That’s awesome..how many do they usually allow for each tour, you said you went on a Greece one – how many were on it?

I know my friend and I still do, we want to make the most of it and get everything we can in. I started to make a list of everything they have to do in Sydney with the price and how long it takes to do each. I think I had found a list on a site that had this info, so we just continued to add more to it. I added shops to go to, bars, and weather that time of year, cost of transportation, comments from different reviews I found, etc.

I am bringing this windbreaker with hood..heaven forbid it rains while we’re there. I’m bring some capris I figure they work with heat and if it’s cold! I’m just worried about fitting it all! Haha Like you said don’t want to bring too much or too little! We get in on Mon Nov 2nd at 8am. What flight are you on heading home..where you flying out of? We fly Cairns – Sydney-San Fran – JFK. We booked our flight a while ago, cancelled and rebooked because it was like $1000 cheaper! lol

My friend lives in Somerville, NJ and I live in Stamford, CT.

I read somewhere try to stay up as long as you can the first day there, cause it will help you get on schedule. Since we are getting there a few days before everyone else we didn’t want to do the things that we figure everyone else will want to do, so we can do some stuff with the people we meet. We def want to do the Bridge Climb that we’re gonna wait until more people are there. I talked to one of my friends, she said do it at sunset…but I think we’ll need to book it ahead of time…if we do if you want to do it with us you’re more than welcome. We want to do the Sydney Skytower walk, the zoo we want to hold a koala, we want to go to the blue mountainss, someone had told me they are awesome to see, in Whitsunday’s we want to do sail where you get to sail the boat, snorkel in Cairns. Just looked at the optionals on the website..don’t think I will bungy! Haha I might try that Minjin. To tell you the truth her and I have been slacking we are usually all over this, haha just both really busy. They must have updated the site, I haven’t been on it in a while, but we looked at other possible excursions besides the ones on their site. What optionals are you thinking of doing?

That’s another thing I am confused on money, want to make sure I have enough. But the amount you said seems like a good amount.

1 month 2 weeks...gonna go by so fast! Can't come soon enough!

Ashley

Hey Ashley,

I guess it depends on whether or not people know about the forums or not. I joined the facebook group someone else had setup for our tour. It doesn't seem as though anyone is really joining it though (maybe they don't know about it).

Well, about the size of the groups, i researched and asked around to find out how many people usually go on them and they said it really depends on the tour. Some book up more than others. The one i did in Greece had about 30 and it was the same ppl the whole time. Supposedly on this one, we are going to run into other people on the other Contiki tours who are staying in the same hotels as us. I think thats great because we get to meet more people.

Wow, you guys seem really prepared. That's really good since you will get more in and go to the best rated places. I need to research more, i'm slacking! LOL. So you guys are going to book the Bridge climb separatly? Doing it at sunset seems like a cool idea.

My flight leaves from Cairns in the morning on 11/15 - i think its around 9am? I fly Cns-Syd-San Fran - Denver - Newark. I am not looking forward to that! I waited too long and that was the best price at the time. Are you flying Jetstar to Sydney? Maybe we're on the same flight. I'm about 45 mins away from Somerville, i go there sometimes.

For the optionals, i think i will end up doing the ones that you had mentioned. I want to do everything possible. I'm a little hesitant about the bungee too! i'll think about that one...

I heard that drinks and going out to eat in Australia is sort of expensive. Since we don't have a lot of lunches/dinners included, i want to make sure i have enough for that stuff. I think that while i'm there i will probably end up having meals from cheaper places that are grab n' go rather than restaurants (just to save money for optionals and souveneirs). I think we should be fine with 1500-2000 though.

I really hope this next few weeks flies by quick! I'm ready to go already

Margaret

Hey gang!

I can't believe the trip is sooo soon! Should be a lot of fun. My friend and I are flying in on the 1st we leave on the 15th (cairns-syd-jfk)

Who asked about money to bring, I am right there with you!

Hey JimBray, Goska asked about money. I agree with her on abut 1500-2000..I read on contiki website under australia...budget about 100-120 a day. Which sounds reasonable. Now if you want to put something on your credit card is there a fee, do you know?

Your friend and you are flying to Sydney early right..what day are you flying on, we leave on Oct31? Also where are you booking to stay the days before the tour begins??

Hope all is well.

Ashley

There will be a fee, but I heard it's not so bad. I plan on bringing a mixture of currency/travelers cheques (TC just in case, not planning on using them). I might have to reorder more currency as I don't think I will have enough. I can always use the ATMs though!

We floy out of JFK on October 30th and we are staying in the Holiday Inn that the tour runs out of. It just seemed easier. Glad we are out of the Chifley, I heard not such great things about it.

yea... forgot there was even a forum!
I'll be coming in from DC, but spending Halloween in SF first. Getting in a day early on Nov4 but am staying with my Sydney friend. There are that many outings in Sydney?! So we just pick, there's nothing officially planned?