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