Holiday Parks - Going the Extra Mile

Reprinted with permission from ACP Media. (Motorhomes and Caravans)

Other campgrounds may well be as immaculate as the Lorneville Holiday Park near Invercargill, but I’ve never stayed in another one that provides a crispy clean, complimentary bathmat in each private shower compartment.

When I return the compliment, telling host Ken Field how impressed I was, he says he and his wife Barbara like to go the extra distance to make their guests’ stay as pleasant as possible.

And I’ve got to say I really hate wet floors in campground ablution blocks, where the satisfaction of a comforting hot shower is so often spoiled by the challenge of how to get dry feet into your shoes without stepping onto cold, damp concrete.

Usually I resort to teetering on a cast-off sock or a piece of downtrodden clothing, fearful not only of slipping and sliding, but of what may be lurking in the slick of other people’s shower water. Okay, I’m paranoid, and other people may not be as squeamish.

The fact is, though, I felt relief and gratitude when I spied the Lorneville bathmat waiting on the towel-rail.

And although it’s the early bird that gets the worm, to the first person out of the block to each cubicle each morning, this small touch does crystallise the point of difference Lorneville enjoys.

En route to Stewart Island before Christmas, we were planning on an overnight stop somewhere near Invercargill before taking catching the Southern Express ferry across Foveaux Strait.

After heading south from Christchurch through the Catlins, we probably would not have taken a slight detour to Lorneville had it not been for a very warm personal recommendation by Gay Kerr, author of the New Zealand Camping Guide.

Surely one of the most experienced campground analysts in the country, she described it to me as “gorgeous”. For her, the stand-out feature is the “brilliant” recreation room, a former woolshed decorated with murals of Southland scenes. Doubling as the television lounge, it is presided over by magnificent trophy heads, antlers and mounted birds, interesting examples of the diverse Southland wildlife.

But her camping guide also singles out “pristine camping facilities complete with hand towels and saniwipes (for the toilet seat).”

Ken Field’s attention to detail is reflected everywhere in the grounds, where the gardens are manicured and not a blade of grass is out of place. (We noticed Ken, as he crossed our lawn, carefully removing a few errant driveway stones transferred there by our campervan.)

He is a genial host, keen to see visitors enjoying themselves as he and Barbara did when they stayed in the camp on one of their own caravanning forays south.

When the camp came up for sale, they remembered it so favourably that it seemed to offer an excellent opportunity on Ken’s “retirement”.

Auckland born and bred, he was an aircraft engineer by trade, serving his apprenticeship with TEAL and then working with Pan American Airways before returning to the newly-named Air New Zealand for 35 years. After a short stint with Air Pacific, his time in aviation ended seven years ago.

Keen boaties always, he and Barbara had never really toured their own home country, so when their daughters left on their OE, the parents also took off in their newly acquired 4.1m Trail-Lite caravan.

Over three South Island trips each lasting three months, they explored most camps and parks, then found Lorneville and loved it.

Purchasing a holiday park was the last thought on their minds. But when it came on the market, it was not only affordable, it also looked like a great change of lifestyle.

Small, on 6.8ha with just 22 power and tent sites, it is situated on SH 98, the Lorneville-Dacre Road just off the Southern Scenic Route. Only 10 minutes from the centre of Invercargill, the campground itself is a very manageable unit for one couple, and because it used to be part of a much larger farm, it has substantial outbuildings including stables, calf-rearing stalls and a large barn.

The next door farmer, who leases several paddocks, even provides orphan sheep for the Fields to hand-rear, quite an adventure for some guests. Ken is always ready to show off his prized sheep to admirers young and old, and is now planning to integrate a couple of alpacas and maybe a few brown-faced goats to provide user friendly animals for people to enjoy year round.

The rural, parklike surroundings are a winning attribute for people who wish to relax in a country environment. A Southland Tourism Award in the budget accommodation category recognises that, as does a Lonely Planet “excellent” rating.

Though the internet facility was down the day we stayed – no fault of the Fields – there is everything you could wish for at this camp, and more.

We could just as easily have used the complimentary all weather gas barbeques, but decided to cook our steak meal in an attractive, well-equipped communal log cabin kitchen, where jugs of complimentary culinary herbs were waiting.

There are a number of well-maintained buildings on the site, with tourist flats and cabins providing options for holidaying families who want to take advantage of the farm park atmosphere. In the playgrounds, a furnished walk-in Wendy house also features a “watching seat” for parents.

As one of the extra Lorneville services, Ken and Barbara are also able to arrange bookings for Stewart Island and Fiordland. Because travel to those points is so weather dependent, Ken makes a point of keeping his guests informed of the latest forecast – in our case, he was happy to report that our crossing was likely to be a calm one.

Indeed it was, and also the return journey to Bluff, after which we passed through Invercargill to follow the Southern Scenic Route to Te Anau.

Situated on the hub of this route, almost at the southernmost point of the sweeping semicircle between Dunedin and Te Anau, the Lorneville Holiday Park is well-located for campervans.

The Southern Scenic Route is the park’s major source of guests, whether they are heading to or from the Catlins or Te Anau.

Travellers who prefer a quiet stay and a roomy, attractive, and relatively private site will find it well worth their while to detour very slightly off the main road to find this park, which offers Qualmark four-star accommodation in units from on-site caravans to fully self contained tourist flats.

I’m sure guests will also appreciate the dedication of the owners, who say they are determined to retain the special qualities of Lorneville, their “stop-over with a difference”.

Words and photos by Lyn McKinnon

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