Eketahuna camp a 'little gem'

TOP CAMPGROUND: Loreen and Kerry Cunningham of the Eketahuna Camping Grounds with their 2015 Top Ranked Award. PHOTO/LYNDA FERINGA

Eketahuna Camping Grounds were named the Supreme Winner of the Camping Grounds category in the 2015 Top Ranked Awards New Zealand.

Kerry and Loreen Cunningham, who have managed the grounds for more than three years, put their success down to simple homemaking and their love for meeting new people.

"We have the camping ground as we would want it to be when we go camping," Mr Cunningham said. "And we treat the people as we would want to be treated, and they appreciate it.

"It's all about the little things we do like meeting with our visitors, making sure the site is clean and presentable. Simple as that."

Eketahuna Camping Grounds was awarded the title of highest ranked Camping Ground in the country because of its best review standard on the website NZ Rankers, with most guests giving them a rating of 10/10.

One reviewer Lorina Spring said she was "pleasantly surprised by this little gem".

"Lovely bush walks, awesome facilities and cheap to stay overnight," she said.

Other reviewers boast of how "welcoming" and "polite" Mr and Mrs Cunningham are.

Mrs Cunningham said the way they presented themselves to the campers was one of the most important parts of the visitors' experience.

"The main thing is just being friendly," she said.

"People love it because we have all the extra things people just don't expect, like soap, dishwashing stuff, and we're just wanting to make sure everything is clean and that people are having a good time.

"You don't get that at other camping grounds."

Mr Cunningham said that most of their visitors were European tourists who found out about the grounds online.

"It's because these days, everything is on the internet. People who come here, they don't find out about us through pamphlets and that, they hear about us on the internet or through word of mouth which is why Rankers NZ is good for us," she said.