Now, after travelling the United States and around New Zealand, the former Tauranga couple are managing the Glendhu Bay Holiday Park.
In their previous lives, Mr Gray was a diesel engineer and Mrs Gray a chef.
Mr Gray said yesterday he never imagined he would end up managing a camping ground in the far south.
"We planned a USA trip for four months and bought a truck and trailer unit, which we brought home. We then decided we had been around the world but never explored New Zealand," he said.
The Grays worked two previous summer seasons at the park, under former leaseholders Herbie and Chris Illingworth.
After the Illingworths' lease expired last April, the Grays were appointed by the Queenstown Lakes District Council to manage the facility.
Mrs Gray said they were thrilled regular campers had supported their application.
"It has gone very, very well."
The Christmas and New Year's holiday rush was over but another was due to start yesterday, with more guests scheduled to replace those who had left.
The next big changeover will be on January 15, when most out-of-towners will be replaced by local groups who come to camp until the end of January.
The camp is fully booked until February 8 and has the capacity for 2000.
Many guests stay in large family groups and seemingly bring everything from their boats to the kitchen sink.
Mrs Gray said they waited with some anxiety for the New Year period, "but we came through unscathed".
They were thrilled with their first summer season at the helm and with visitors' behaviour over the holiday period.
The Grays said they had not introduced any changes to operations because the council wanted them to run it "as is" for a year before deciding whether any changes were needed.
However, some campers had to be reallocated tent sites because the lake encroached above the beach, on to the grass near the communal barbecue area.
A new drinking water supply was installed in early spring, which has also resulted in some site reallocations until the grass regrows.
