A group of more than 50 United Arab Emirates pilgrims who missed their scheduled 9.37am train to Sydney after a rail pass mix-up spent an extra hour farewelling their hosts at Wollongong railway station.

The parting signalled the end of five days of sightseeing and pre-WYD activities for the United Arab Emirates pilgrims in the Illawarra.

Mangerton resident Jeff De Battista and daughter Georgia were upset by the departure of their billets, sisters Arleen and Susan D'Souza.

"It has been excellent having them here and it is really hard to say goodbye," Mr De Battista said.

"It is a very special bond that we have forged with them - it was great sharing our culture and their culture.

"We went up Mt Keira together, down to Kiama and saw the blowhole, to Jamberoo and we went sky-diving yesterday.

"We've also had a couple of dinners with family and relatives, where they brought all of their billet friends."

Swapping email addresses and last-minute hugs, many of the billets were equally upset to leave.

"It has been very lovely here. It is so hard for us right now, because our stay seemed so short and we bonded with our (host) family really well," Arleen D'Souza said.

"We will come out here again for sure."

Parish co-ordinator at West Wollongong, David Coates said the billeting program and WYD activities had been a wonderful experience.