UPDATE 5 Nov 2024: The Backyard Universe is closing down on 30 November 2024 because the owners/operators are retiring. You can still book places on the remaining Fleurieu Stars tours this month. But no new bookings are being accepted for private group night sky tours, nor for passenger transport. Thank you to our many tour guests and supporters for the last eight years.
General Terms & Conditions — Cancellation By You — Cancellation by us (including weather-related) — Pricing & Payment — Privacy Policy
General Terms & Conditions for tours & events
- We recommend that all guests have comprehensive travel insurance to cover illness, injury, loss or damage to their property, inability to attend or to continue a booked tour/activity for any reason, and other unforeseen circumstances. We accept no responsibility for any loss or personal injury or illness; or damage to personal belongings, luggage or other personal property.
- If you feel a tour activity is beyond your fitness level or ability then it is your responsibility to advise our tour guide. Not all injuries or Disabilities are visible.
- On rare occasions our tour guide may also suggest that you not participate in an activity, if our tour guide believes you may put yourself at risk by proceeding.
- If you lose personal property while you’re with us please advise us immediately. We will need as much information as possible about the lost property, when/where you think you lost it, and your contact details.
- For their own safety and comfort all guests are required to obey our tour guide’s instructions while on tour. This includes staying on the marked tracks or trails, not collecting specimens of flora, fauna, or other natural items; and not wandering away from the tour group. Some of the hazards at our tour venues may not be obvious to visitors.
- Children under 18 years old must be accompanied by their parent or guardian at all times while on tour.
- Assistance Dogs and Guide Dogs are welcome on tours. All other dogs and other pets must be left at home.
- ALL tours and trips are NO-SMOKING and NO-VAPING zones.
- NO alcohol is allowed to be consumed during our tours. We don’t have a liquor licence.
- Guests who are unruly, threatening, violent or intoxicated will not be tolerated and will be removed from the tour at whatever point is deemed convenient by our tour guide or driver. The matter may also be reported to Police. There will be no refund for such guests.
Cancellation by you of your booking
Once a tour or event commences, there will be no refund given to any guest who leaves for any reason while the tour or event is in progress.
Cancelling your booking for a public tour or event
- Guests who cancel their booking more than 48 hours prior to tour/event commencement will be offered either an alternative tour date (if possible), or a refund of any booking fee already paid.
- No refund will be given for guests who cancel their booking less than 48 hours prior to tour commencement, or who fail to turn up for their booking for any reason. These guests may be offered an alternative tour date (if possible) at our discretion.
Cancelling your private group’s tour or event
- Bookings cancelled more than 72 hours prior to tour/event/trip commencement will be refunded any booking fee or deposit already paid.
- Bookings cancelled between 72 and 48 hours prior to tour/event/trip commencement will be refunded half of any booking fee or deposit already paid.
- No refund will be given for cancellations by guests less than 48 hours prior to tour/event/trip commencement, or who fail to turn up for their booking for any reason.
- Cancelled bookings may be offered an alternative tour/event/trip date (if possible) at our discretion.
Cancellation of tours or events by us
Many of our tours, events and activities are Weather Permitting; and some of our outdoor locations may be closed due to fire danger or unsuitable weather on the day.
If weather conditions are unsuitable then the tour or event will be cancelled, and you will be notified of the cancellation via SMS or email. You may then choose either an alternative tour date (if possible), or receive a full refund.
We CANNOT reliably forecast cloud cover before the actual date of a night tour. We will decide by 2pm on the day, and we will send a text message to your mobile phone with our decision. If you haven’t heard from us by 3pm on the day, please contact us.
We also reserve the right to cancel any tour or event if it has fewer guests booked than the minimum number required to operate.
Tours or events may also be cancelled if factors beyond our control make it impossible, illegal, unfeasible or dangerous to operate the tour. For example natural disasters or mandatory Park and Forest closures.
If these cancellation situations occur, then we will endeavour to advise any booked guests prior to the scheduled commencement of tour. Booked guests will be offered either an alternative tour date (if possible), or a refund of any fee already paid.
Tour Pricing and Payment Terms
All tours are priced in Australian Dollars and our advertised prices include GST (Australia’s federal Goods & Services Tax), booking fees, credit card fees and (if applicable) booking agent commissions. See the individual tours’ descriptions for any additional inclusions or exclusions from their advertised prices. If a tour offers adult and child pricing; then a “child” is anyone 5 to 17 years old inclusive, an “adult” is anyone 18 years or older. Some of our tours offer free entry for children under 5, or for medical companions.
Some of our booking agencies are unable to display all of our pricing options, or show you our tour prices in Australian Dollars.
Some agencies also have partnerships with other third-party resellers, who may add their own fees to our prices without telling us!
Privacy Policy
This is how we use the personal information you provide to us:
- Your name, so that we know who made the booking.
- For tours that include catering, we’ll also need to know who in your booking has any special dietary requirements. We may contact you before your tour to discuss, depending on your answer.
- Your mobile phone number (and its country), so that we can notify you if your tour is cancelled or going ahead. We generally do this as a text message to your phone. If we can’t send a text message to the phone number then we will email you instead.
- Your booking confirmation and other tour specific information is sent to your email address. Your email address might also be used to notify you of a tour cancellation if there’s a problem with your mobile phone number.
- We also add your email address to our confidential customer mailing list, which is occasionally used to announce new tours or special events. Offers to buy or share or view our customer mailing list will be ignored.
- Your credit / debit card details are automatically hidden from us by our online booking system. Our booking system automatically deletes your credit card details 30 days after your tour date.
- We like to know your country and postcode so that we can identify where our customers come from. And it helps us figure out how to contact your mobile phone if you gave us a non-Australian phone number without a country code.
- We like to know “how did you find out out about us?” so that we can improve our future advertising.
- We ask your permission to be photographed or videoed during your tour. If you say no then we’ll only be taking photos or videos of other tour guests. And you may be asked to avoid our camera’s field of view during our photography.
- Some of our telescopes can be used from a seated position or from a wheelchair, but this requires specific preparation on the day. Which is why some tours ask “does anyone in your booking have difficulty standing up, or climbing a stepladder?” If you indicate difficulty then we’ll contact you before your tour to discuss details. We’ll also contact you if your booking includes a carer.
Contact us if you want your personal information to be permanently removed from our records after your tour.