TOUR INFORMATION Each tour has a specific route to follow with venues pre-selected and paid for. Checking the description of the tour before you book is important as changes are not permitted unless the consent of the driver/guide on the day and notification to the venues prebooked. You will be contacted before your tour often the day/night before with your pickup time and location to meet the tour bus. If you do not get this call, text or email please call the main phone number. Your tour pickup will be usually between 9 and 9.50 am for full day tours. We will ask you to wait for the tour bus in a specific location, this is for the ease of pickup, and you may be able to have the tour bus return you to the door of your accommodation after the tour. If you have chosen an accommodation with a long driveway or on a rural property, we do not enter the private property and will only pick you up from the front gate of the property or a near-by main crossroad *It is wise to drive down to the gate to wait out of the weather. There are other people to pickup on a shared tour. We would like you to be ready to board the bus when it arrives. HV Tours has a 10 km pickup zone from Central Pokolbin to your accommodation. If you are outside this zone, you will be required to pay an additional pickup fee which will be outlined on your booking page, Cessnock, Nulkaba and Rothbury are complimentary. This fee is for your pick up and return to your accommodation. If you do not wish to pay this pickup fee, you are welcome to meet the tour bus and group at a central Pokolbin location such as the Hunter Valley Gardens or Roche Estate or meet the tour at the first cellar door at 10am. We do not drive on Mt View or Pokolbin Mountain roads as these roads can be poorly maintained and can be dangerous for passenger vehicles. We will happily meet you at an agreed location down from the mountain. Tasting fee’s are included in the tour . Tastings at cheese and chocolate venues are often complimentary and managed by the venues themselves and dependent on the venue. You do not have to participate in this stop. Spirits Tastings at Small Mouth Vodka are complimentary and often in demand and sort after by the majority of participants. You are not obligated to participate, this is your choice on the day if you participate. The lunch menu may include a surcharge on certain dishes. If you select a dish with a surcharge, the dishes with surcharges will be clearly marked and it is your choice if you order this dish. You must pay this surcharge directly to to the restaurant in person either before or after your meal. If you do not pay this surcharge HVT may deduct this from your stored credit card on your booking or return to the restaurant for you to pay this surcharge before the tour continues. DRESS CODE ON THE DAY Clothing – please wear clothing suitable to sharing a common space in the tour vehicle with other people and appropriate for the weather on the day. Tours are conducted in all weather Footwear – please wear closed in footwear. You could possibly be walking on uneven/wet/dusty ground and for safety reasons we strongly encourage and recommend closed in footwear DRINKING OF ALCOHOL INSIDE THE TOUR BUS Is prohibited. This includes any alcohol drinks you may purchase whilst on tour with us. We do not allow eskys or any open vessels of alcohol onboard the tour bus. If you breach this and are found consuming or with an open vessel of alcohol in the tour bus, we have the right to ask you to leave the tour immediately and no refund will be given. HV Tours does not have a ‘party bus’ bus accreditation or insurance. SEAT BELTS MUST BE WORN