He Tangata: Camp Glenorchy's Peter Kerr

Camp Glenorchy.

I grew up in Dunedin, we had a lovely home in St Claire two streets back from the beach, and I had a wonderful misspent youth, surfing and being a member of the surf club. When I left school, I decided to pursue a farming career, however, things changed after I had a motor vehicle accident — that altered my outlook on life and I decided to go to Queenstown, to look for the joy in the moment. As I'm a people person, I thought hospitality looked interesting and it was there I fell into tourism and I never looked back.

Queenstown was a trip back then with a permanent population of around 900. After a few years, I moved to Australia as a trainee with Koala Motor Inns, going through all the departments when I was offered a job at The Excelsior Hotel in Hong Kong. It was the days of Olivia Newton John and we'd roll up at Kai-tak Airport at midnight in our platform shoes and bell-bottoms. We're put in the back of the latest Mercedes Benz and whipped through the harbour tunnel to Causeway Bay. On arrival, the striking 6ft 6in, doorman who opens the car door is wearing a beautiful red tunic, black boots, white trousers, he opens the car doors and into opulence we went. The lobby is massive, there are 800 rooms, 10 to 12 food and beverage outlets, a supper club, shopping arcade, dentist, doctor, you never needed to leave.

The Excelsior was the first hotel in Hong Kong to get revolving doors and when we put them in, there was a queue of people a couple of kilometres long all lined up, wanting to come through the revolving doors.

On our day off, sometimes we'd catch a ferry and go to Lantau Island. In those days you could lie on the beach all day covered in baby oil and not worry about it. Or we'd go to the casino on Macau, lose all our money and use our passes to get back on the hydrofoil. Working six-day weeks, you made the most of your day off.

Next stop was The Regent Pattaya in Thailand.

I loved Thai culture, the people, the strong Buddhist faith

and their royal family. They're delightful, courteous, the food is great, it's a wonderful country to live in and they're such gracious hosts.

Camp Glenorchy.

Years later, we moved to Fiji to join Blue Lagoon Cruises, we were based in Lautoka, spending about two weeks a month at sea. I loved the diving, the sailing, everything to do with the water. On our days off, we'd go to the beach or one of the islands. Tracy and I never got into the expat gig;

to us part of the experience is getting to know the local culture and understanding the people

. In all the offshore places we've lived, aside from the guests, we've always spent more time with the locals.

Working in hotels, resorts, destination spas and lodges spread over five continents I've learnt that people can be unpredictable when they're on the move, and that travellers sometimes need to take a bit of a chill pill, to soak up the environment and not be in such a rush. Tourism is changing, the days of lying on beaches in the hot sun are eroding, I think when people have a holiday now they want a cultural or life-changing experience — they want to leave a destination feeling they've learnt something.

I've also worked in Vanuatu, Maldives, India, Tanzania — moving around such a lot means we've always been minimalistic. We do bring things back, just not large container loads. If we buy something we know we're going to use it, you have to be quite regimented.

We were back home in Hawke's Bay when this opportunity with The Headwaters came up and as we drove that road between Queenstown and Glenorchy, Tracy was blown away.

Just 40 minutes from Queenstown, the opportunities for outdoor pursuits are endless, from jet boating to horse riding, day tramps, the mountains are all on our doorstep. It's just a world-class environment. And I'm still blown away every day, looking out the window to see snow on the mountains; it's been a return home for me. I feel very settled here, as if I've reached a place I can stay for a long time, as if I've returned to my roots.

Peter Kerr is the general manager of New Zealand's first Net Zero energy campground, Camp Glenorchy.