Holiday park marks centenary

Christchurch man Neville Myers pushes a gokart along at Tāhuna Beach Holiday Park, the two young girls in it laughing as they pedal off down a grassy slope.He and wife Beth are standing atop a bank on the edge of the site’s amphitheatre, admiring the view over the country’s largest holiday park, and across Tasman Bay to the dusky western ranges beyond.

For 25 years, the couple have been coming back to the summer holiday hotspot off Tāhunanui Beach in Nelson, and to the same patch within the campground.

They are now among more than 150 people acknowledged by the holiday park for visiting, living or working there for at least two decades, as the venue marks its centenary this year.

The Myers initially spent their break at Tāhunanui in tents with their five children.

They now brought their caravan, complete with solar power and awning, something not lost on their children, Neville said.

“They said ‘why did you get a caravan when we left home’,” he laughed.

A big part of the holiday park’s appeal was the way families and friends got together there to have fun and relax, the couple said.

Just across from their tent site, children were enjoying tug-of-war and sack races; part of organised activities put on by the park over summer for free.

Nearby was a marquee that hosted activities such as quiz nights, while a stream of children splashed into a pool at the bottom of an inflatable water slide. The couple described the joy of watching children sliding down the amphitheatre slope on pieces of cardboard, right next to their site.

The Myers first set up camp at the spot in 2001 after friends who had stayed at the holiday park before suggested they try it out, Neville said. “We camped next to them, we had a really good time with all our children, we thought ‘we’ll come back for one more year’.

“We’ve been here ever since.”

A network grew of Christchurch families who would meet up at the holiday park, culminating in 10 families celebrating New Year’s Eve together one year, he said.

They traditionally agreed a theme and menu for the evening, and people would dress up and enjoy the live music in the amphitheatre.

While their grown-up children were now elsewhere, the pair celebrated with four other families this year.

This year’s theme was “race day”, which included someone dressing up as Penelope Pitstop, and pre-recordings of dog and horse races complete with custom-made money and T-shirts.

The couple recalled a wide variety of activities put on for their children over the years, including making scarecrows.

The beach volleyball court, a stone’s throw away from their tents, used to be “the main green” for playing cricket, Neville said.

“All our boys and girls used to love getting out there and knocking around, and that’s where they could spend two hours just playing a game. And we knew that they were all here, we didn’t have to worry about them.

“They made heaps of friends, and that was the joy. They would come home trailing with somebody else in behind, and they’d come in and have something to eat, and they’d head out again.”

On rainy days the families would go into Nelson, he said.“We would take all the children, we would go to town, go to a movie. “Another day we would go to Lee Valley, another day we would go to Rabbit Island … Kaiteriteri … Māpua.

“Nelson’s awesome because it could be raining over there, and beautiful sunshine over there.”

Having the beach right next to the holiday park remained a big draw card, the semi-retired educator said.

“We can … go across the waterway here, jump in the ocean, be there for an hour.

“For the children, the whole idea of the estuary ‒ them floating in, and then all floating on down ‒ you only had to be there to cordon them off on that end.”

The families also used to jump into the sea off Rocks Rd, and visit markets across the region and vineyards together, he said.

On New Year’s Day this year, a Whānau Tree was unveiled at the holiday park, with the names of guests, staff and permanent residents who had a connection with the venue spanning 20 years or more.

It was the first of several events arranged in 2026 to mark “100 years of beach-side memories” at the site.

Marketing, events and communications manager Debbie Armatage said the holiday park was governed by a board that started life as a society, which were engaged by Nelson City Council in 1926 to develop Tāhunanui’s recreational facilities.

Initially building changing sheds and a playground there, the society then focused on the fact that people were already camping in the area ‒ and officially opened the holiday park (then called a motor camp) in 1937, in partnership with the Automobile Association, she said.

In April there would be an app the public could download as part of the local Tuku26 heritage festival, showing historic points of interest around the park.

In September, the 100th annual general meeting would include a staff reunion, with a publication of Collective Holiday Memories available, and other events to follow.