When the new owner of the Omarama Top 10 Holiday Park describes his new life he could be talking about the life of Riley.
Tony Chapman and his wife Amanda have moved from Mosgiel to the Waitaki Valley after buying the camp on January 14.
"Every day's a Saturday. You can just meet people and cruise around and talk, keep things tidy,'' Mr Chapman said.
Mr Chapman likes hunting and fishing and hopes he will find the time to "catch the odd fish''.
The 3ha property, which hosts up to 500 campers, was typically "very busy'' from December through February and already the Chapmans had enjoyed the lifestyle the new business brought.
Meeting new people was now a most enjoyable part of everyday life.
"We've met so many different people. [We enjoy] the meeting of people and the different backgrounds of everybody. A lot of families have been going there for a long time ... some families have been going there for 50 years, a lot have been there 20 to 30 years. It's a great family camp.''
Mr Chapman said he wanted to maintain the high standards of the previous owners, Arda Booiman and her late husband Wim.
"It's very, very tidy, and everybody who has been there has noted how tidy and well-manicured it is, which is no credit to us. It's a credit to them how great it looks.''
Mr Chapman's family farmed near Kurow, close to what is now The Pasquale Kurow Winery, for 155 years until he sold up in 2013.
Mrs Chapman, although born in Invercargill, was raised in Otematata and Kurow.
The couple still had many friends in the valley, Mr Chapman said.
But owning a camping ground was not the original plan.
"I was going to go back to farming, but between the prices of things, the droughts and all the rest of it, I thought, ‘There's got to be something else we can do, surely','' he said.
"It was only the last couple of years and the droughts and the prices of meat and wool and milk - and I thought, ‘I wonder what else there is?'''
He said the couple looked at several camping grounds, but wanted the one at Omarama "because of where it is, the hot dry summers - it's got a great community, it's a great area''.
