These days he comes with his wife, Jenny, although he was "about 19" the first time he camped at the domain, near Earnscleugh, just out of Clyde.
"We used to send all the camping gear up by rail, and we would come up in the car. We'd deposit our stuff here and then go and pick up the camping gear from the [Clyde railway] station."
In the past, one of the neighbouring properties had a large vegetable garden from which campers could buy produce, Mr Paterson said.
The butcher and the milkman used to come to the camp, "and I think the baker used to come in as well, early on. The milkman used to have a big box down the road and people used to take their billies down and leave them to be filled".
Slowly, those services disappeared.
Mr Paterson said he and his wife brought their children to the domain when they were young.
It must have rubbed off on them, as one of their sons has started to come back of his own accord.
"It was good in those days. We didn't have the phone like we do now," Mr Paterson said, referring to the mobile phone he and his wife have "for emergencies".
"We used to do quite a bit of rabbiting and there were some good-sized fish in the river."
There are still some fish to be caught but in the main they are quite small, he said.
In more recent times, the couple have brought their bikes to the domain.
"We've done bits and pieces of the rail trail and bike around the village [Clyde]."
Today, the Patersons, from Dunedin, generally stay for about three or four weeks.
Camping at Fraser Domain is not for campers who like to be surrounded by all the comforts of home.
There is a toilet block, with hand-basins, but no showers.
There is no kitchen block so campers have to have their own gas stove or barbecue.
The Patersons do not mind not having all the mod cons, such as electric power, on tap.
"That's the beauty of the place. In the old days we used to run a hose from a water race to a copper urn on the back of a trailer. That was our water supply. We used to boil water but now we bring filtered water from home.
"We still use the creek for washing, though."
Lighting has also changed over the years.
"We used to use hurricane lamps but we've got gas lighting now."
One of the biggest attractions for the couple is that the domain is not as crowded as traditional camping grounds.
"We have not got a lot of people right beside us, which is great. We're not surrounded by guy ropes and other campers."
The biggest change Mr Paterson has noticed at the domain over the years is the increase in the number of fruit pickers who stay there.
"They come from all around the world. Most of them fit in well."
The domain's location in the heart of Central Otago is ideal, he said.
"It's a good jumping off place to go to Queenstown or Wanaka. We've also done a few trips up the Nevis [valley] and over the Dunstan Trail, the old miners' track [to Dunedin].
"There's fishing at Poolburn [reservoir] and the upper Manorburn. There's plenty to do. Or you can put your feet up and relax.
"It's a good place to get away from the mad rush of Christmas or to come and wind down from the mad rush of working."
When Mr Paterson first started camping at the domain, it was run by the Earnscleugh Amenity Society and after that the Vincent County Council.
It then came under the jurisdiction of the Central Otago District Council.
From December through to April, the domain is looked after for the council by caretakers Hazel and Gordon Pearce, who have been doing so for the past 15 years.
"We'd been camping here since 1980 and when it was going to be closed for camping they asked us if we'd like to take it over.
"We said we'd try it for a season. Then we did another season. And we're still here."
It is an honorary position.
The biggest attraction of staying at Fraser Domain is that it is nice and peaceful, Mr Pearce said.
The couple, who are in their 80s, live in Tapanui but stay on-site at the domain, in their caravan, from December through to April.
"We get to look after everybody," Mrs Pearce said.
Fraser Domain
- Next to the Fraser River, off Strode Rd, Earnscleugh, Central Otago.
- Short distance to Clyde end of Otago Central Rail Trail.
- Located in the heart of Central Otago, with easy access to Queenstown and Wanaka.
- Caretakers in residence from December to April.
- Toilet block but no showers or kitchen facilities.
- Once popular with families, now fruit pickers aplenty.
- Close to many historic gold-mining sites.
