Cosy Corner Holiday Park has lost none of its appeal after 40 years of camping for Wellington couple Tommy and Linda Malcolmson.
The Oceanbeach Rd camping ground began as a pitstop on their way north when the Malcolmsons' children were young, and ended up the base for each summer holiday.
Mr Malcolmson said it stopped being a pitstop when the kids grew tired of travelling around in the caravan.
''We asked them which camping ground they enjoyed the most in New Zealand, and they chose this one.''
The Northern Ireland-born, newly retired relief tug captain said they had come up every year since that decision, making lifelong friends and seeing each other's children grow up and go on to have children of their own.