Rotorua campground has hosted the same family for 15 summers

Fletcher Kendall, 5, left, and his brother Archie, 8 relaxing near the stream which runs through the Waiteti Holiday Park. Photo / Stephen Parker

One family of three generations has been coming to the same campground in Rotorua for more than 15 years.

Alan and Judith Chesterman have spent endless summers at Waiteti Trout Stream, Holiday Park and Backpackers in Ngongotaha and plan to continue doing so.

This year they plan to stay for 21 days and get the most out of their new caravan.

"It was also a difficult year, one way or the other, so we thought we'd just finish it off and have a nice break," Alan said.

The couple had been taking their daughter Janine, now married with two children, when she was still a teen.

Now Janine camps alongside her parents with her sons, Archie, 8, and Fletcher, 6.

Alan said it was a good place for the kids and especially the grandchildren who were happy to entertain themselves or play in the stream in kayaks.

Children enjoying the free kayaks at Waiteti Holiday Park in Ngongotaha. Photo / Supplied

Judith said she liked the camp because it was small and not overcrowded but Alan said the real reason, although he hadn't caught one this summer, was the trout.

"I trout fish you see and I don't get much of a chance during the year and it was the one place we could come to where it wasn't in the bush.

"We could just camp with the lovely stream and you could just walk down and trout fish."

Judith said she liked the proximity of the holiday park to the activities and shops in Rotorua.

"That's why this is quite good for us cause he has the benefit of the trout fishing and I'm close to anything that I want to go and do," she said.

The couple spend four hours towing their caravan from Orewa, where they live. They said they had used a tent their first time camping but have been caravaning since 1981.

Waiteti Trout Stream, Holiday Park and Backpackers owner Michael Thorne brought the park in January 2005.

He said he didn't intend to keep the park but he was glad he spent the time renovating it and creating a traditional holiday park with family at the centre.

"I wasn't going to keep it originally I just wanted the land because it was a very old product and run down.

"But it's nice to see families grow up and experience a traditional family holiday."

The stream is a popular aspect of the Waiteti Holiday Park. Photo / Supplied

Thorne said the holiday park hosts kōura catching at night and puts on a fireworks display on New Year's Eve where the children get a bag of lollies when they arrive.

"The highlight of the summer for the kids is of course the stream. They just love it and that's why we provide the free kayaks.

"And they all get free rods and go fishing for trout that come through here too," Thorne said.

He said Rotorua had a reputation as a tourist destination but he believed the domestic market was an important market for Rotorua.

"It sometimes has the reputation for being expensive, but there are a lot of quality, family-friendly, inexpensive things to do.

"So it is a real destination, not just for tourists but for the domestic market as well."