Organized Trips from Sydney -- Several companies offer day trips to the Hunter Valley from Sydney. Boutique Wine Tours (tel. 02/9499 5444; www.boutiquewinetours.com.au), takes small groups to the Hunter to visit up to six wineries, as well as cheese and fudge producers. The trip costs A$110, A$125 with a cafe lunch, or A$165 with a restaurant lunch. Wonderbus is another good operator (tel. 1300 556 143 in Australia, or mobile 0403 327 143; www.wonderbus.com.au). A tour from Sydney with buffet lunch costs $149, or A$105 without lunch. Grayline (tel. 1300/858 687; www.grayline.com.au) offers unadventurous big-coach trips to the vineyards every Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday costing A$173 for adults and A$86 for kids. It visits three wineries and includes lunch.

Visitor Information -- Wine Country Visitors Information Centre, Main Road, Pokolbin, NSW 2325 (tel. 02/4990 4477; fax 02/4991 4518; www.winecountry.com.au), is open Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm, Saturday from 9:30am to 5pm, and Sunday from 9:30am to 3:30pm. The staff can make accommodations bookings and answer any questions. The Dungog Visitors Information Centre, Dowling Street, Dungog (tel. 02/4992 2212), has plenty of information on the Barrington Tops area. A good general website is www.winecountry.com.au.

Getting There

To get to the wine-producing regions of the Hunter, leave Sydney by the Harbour Bridge or Harbour Tunnel and follow the signs for Newcastle. Just before Hornsby, turn off the highway and head up the National 1/F3 freeway. After around an hour, exit at Cessnock and follow signs to the vineyards. The trip will take about 2 1/2 hours. Barrington Tops National Park is reached via the Upper Hunter town of Dungog.

A rental car should cost at least A$45 a day from Sydney, and you might put in around A$40 worth of gas for a couple of days of touring (the price hovers around A$1.20 a liter). In the Hunter, contact Hertz, 1A Aberdare Rd., Cessnock (tel. 13 30 39 in Australia, or 02/4991 2500).

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