OK so this is the first time I have been on holiday on my own.......!! Rather than start out with something easy and short I thought what the heck and I find myself booked to go to Australia with a Dubai stopover on the way, departing 18 January.

Is anyone else on this forum booked on this trip?

Cate

Well done for taking the plunge!

Best wishes,

Bob

I did Australia a couple of years ago when Qantas flew via Singapore so I do not know what the Dubai stop over will be like although I have been to Dubai years ago but expect it has changed alot since then. Enjoy whilst you are there!

Australia is amazing country to visit. I enjoyed the lifetime trip. What suprised me is that I did not like Sydney for some reason. Seeing the sights there was OK but didn't like the place. Cairns, Perth Alice Springs and Melbourne were fantastic.

So have a good time when you go.

Eric

Hi Cate, I'm hoping to do this tour in a year or two, so please do write a review for the forum when you get back! I hope you have a brilliant time - the itinerary looks amazing!

Well done for taking the plunge!

Best wishes,

Bob

Thanks Bob

Very excited now.....

Yes I will certainly do a review when I return.

Cate

I'm also doing this holiday with the Dubai stopover. It will be my 3rd JY holiday. I'm looking forward to the Australian part, it sounds great and takes in everything I've ever wanted to see in Australia. I'm a bit more nervous about the Dubai stopover as we are on our own there without a tour guide, but it's somewhere I'd like to visit and it seemed like a good idea at the time! The other JY holidays I did worked out very well. Like you, I jumped in the deep end and went to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam for my first one. For the second, I did America's Golden West. From my past experiences I have 2 pieces of advice. The first is to remember, as my first Tour Guide kept impressing on us, that this is a Tour not a Holiday!! There will almost certainly be a lot of early starts, and a lot of travelling. We are there for the experience, not to have a relaxing holiday! The second piece of advice is to try and chat with everyone in the group at different times, and get to know as many people as possible.

Which part of the country are you from? I'm from Weymouth in Dorset.

Message for Eric - how much money would you recommend we take in Australian dollars, and how easy is it to use credit cards there?

I look forward to meeting you, Cate. Perhaps we could arrange to meet at Heathrow if not before. Best wishes, Marion

I am hoping to go to Australia in 2016 for a special birthday so would be very interested in your review of the trip and the stopover.

Have a super time.

Sylvia

Hi Cate

I'm also doing this holiday with the Dubai stopover. It will be my 3rd JY holiday. I'm looking forward to the Australian part, it sounds great and takes in everything I've ever wanted to see in Australia. I'm a bit more nervous about the Dubai stopover as we are on our own there without a tour guide, but it's somewhere I'd like to visit and it seemed like a good idea at the time! The other JY holidays I did worked out very well. Like you, I jumped in the deep end and went to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam for my first one. For the second, I did America's Golden West. From my past experiences I have 2 pieces of advice. The first is to remember, as my first Tour Guide kept impressing on us, that this is a Tour not a Holiday!! There will almost certainly be a lot of early starts, and a lot of travelling. We are there for the experience, not to have a relaxing holiday! The second piece of advice is to try and chat with everyone in the group at different times, and get to know as many people as possible.

Which part of the country are you from? I'm from Weymouth in Dorset.

Message for Eric - how much money would you recommend we take in Australian dollars, and how easy is it to use credit cards there?

I look forward to meeting you, Cate. Perhaps we could arrange to meet at Heathrow if not before. Best wishes, Marion

Hi Marion

Good to hear from you. It would be nice to meet up at Heathrow.

I'm from Bristol.

Definitely not sure about how much money to take, it would be good if we got some advise on that. What I've read on the forums so far varies a lot but that's not just a trip to Australia but general money advise.

Probably a good thing we're going to Dubai first so we can relax prior to all that travelling and the trips........

Best wishes

Cate

Cindy

I'm staying overnight on Saturday 17th at theJurys Inn, Heathrow. Will you be going straight to Heathrow on the Sunday? Perhaps we could arrange to meet somewhere like the Wetherspoons at Heathrow on Sunday, if not before. Have you booked any of the optional trips? There are so many of them, I don't know where to begin!

Cindy, thanks for the advice on money.

Best wishes

Marion

I've got a lift to terminal 3 Heathrow on the Sunday. I'm aiming to get there no later than 5pm.

Could we meet at check-in desk perhaps (I have an ability to get myself lost in the most straightforward of situations!) ?

I've booked 6 additional trips so far: one in Dubai ( cruise on the dhow) and 5 in Australia - Daintree in Cairns, Featherdale wildlife park in Sydney, Kuranda sky rail in Cairns, the Sydney harbour cruise and the Yanchep National park in Perth.

You're right there were a lot to choose from. It's going to be a very packed time that's for sure.

Best wishes

Cate

Hi Cate

I'm also doing this holiday with the Dubai stopover. It will be my 3rd JY holiday. I'm looking forward to the Australian part, it sounds great and takes in everything I've ever wanted to see in Australia. I'm a bit more nervous about the Dubai stopover as we are on our own there without a tour guide, but it's somewhere I'd like to visit and it seemed like a good idea at the time! The other JY holidays I did worked out very well. Like you, I jumped in the deep end and went to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam for my first one. For the second, I did America's Golden West. From my past experiences I have 2 pieces of advice. The first is to remember, as my first Tour Guide kept impressing on us, that this is a Tour not a Holiday!! There will almost certainly be a lot of early starts, and a lot of travelling. We are there for the experience, not to have a relaxing holiday! The second piece of advice is to try and chat with everyone in the group at different times, and get to know as many people as possible.

Which part of the country are you from? I'm from Weymouth in Dorset.

Message for Eric - how much money would you recommend we take in Australian dollars, and how easy is it to use credit cards there?

I look forward to meeting you, Cate. Perhaps we could arrange to meet at Heathrow if not before. Best wishes, Marion

Hi Marion,

It's Pauline from the Golden West trip last year. How are you keeping? I have just booked to go to Canada in May. I'm hoping to do the Australia trip next year as a retirement gift to myself!! I hope you have a brilliant holiday and I will be very interested to read how you have got on.

Take Care.

PaulineD

Enjoy Dubai

Best wishes Julie

We should have a Just You rep at the check-in area, so shall we meet with him/her there at 5pm? If by any chance we miss each other there, we could meet in the lounge that we have a pass for. I don't think we can exchange photos on this site, but I'm 5'6", slim build, long brown hair. I'm expecting to be wearing a black patterned skirt, white t shirt and black tights. Age 60's but generally taken to be younger! If all else fails we'll have to flash our JY labels around and hope we spot each other! I've ended up booking all the optional excursions except Sovereign Hill, Sydney Harbour, Western McDonnell and Yanchep. Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday, Marion.

Hopefully will see you at check-in at 5pm.

Nearly here.....!

Best wishes

Cate