How Well Do We Know People In Our Community?

In February 2004, Lisa and Frank Cornelissen returned from England, where Lisa had been managing the Corporate Rebranding for Unilever. Frank had been working in IT and Finance. 

Back in NZ they were unsure what they wanted to do, so they bought a campervan and set out to explore the country. Martinborough was a destination enroute. 

The Camping Ground in Martinborough was not particularly appealing, so they stayed in Greytown before venturing South. 

It wasn’t long before they realised that they loved both Martinborough, and campervans. During their travels they also discovered what makes a great camping ground. 

Back in Martinborough they approached the Council to discuss resource consent for the purchase of land to develop a Holiday Park. Council suggested that instead, they tender for a lease on the present camping ground. It had advantages. Power and sewerage systems were already in place. They won the tender, negotiated a long lease, invested a significant sum of money, and took possession in July 2005.

Shells of buildings were moved onto the site, a Kitchen block, a Bathroom Block and small guest laundry. Frank was the handyman who fitted out the buildings. Lisa helped build, paint and decorate. Martinborough Village Camping opened on the 11^{th of} November 2005.

“Originally there were just seven powered sites,” said Lisa. “We now have 30, 17 unpowered tent sites, 20 units, three of which are fully self-contained, a Reception building, a Manager’s House, and an extension to the Bathroom Block with a family accessible Bathroom. 

Being part of the TOP 10 Holiday Park Franchise is really helpful. We have the advantage of their marketing and quality systems. They audit us every year for Customer Service, Cleanliness, Health and Safety, and survey Customer Experience. 

Since December 2022 we have had a lot of International guests. They are just so delighted to be able to travel again. They are courteous and a pleasure to serve. Every weekend we have been fully booked. Our main season runs from December to the middle of May. Weekend events are always fully booked. Our quieter times run from May to September. 

 Language barriers do provide the odd hiccup. We had one young couple who had booked a site with a power point. When they arrived they asked, “Where is our Campervan?” They had presumed it was automatically included. They slept under our two-man tent for the next two days.

Our first and hopefully only streaker had obviously imbibed a little too much during Toast Martinborough. As he raced past we heard him say. “Don’t judge me. It’s cold out here.” He passed rapidly. Gone in a flash.

Another couple tried to pursue an intimate moment under our hedge but were discovered by our fox terrier. It couldn’t have been very comfortable. Clothes were hastily gathered, and they definitely had red faces.

Like all projects there is always more to do. We have plans to upgrade our power supply, install chargers for electric vehicles, and enlarge the Kitchen Block to cater more easily for larger groups.

Life is certainly not dull at the TOP 10 Holiday Park”.                                   Lyle Griffiths