The Albert Town Camping Ground's half dozen camp sites - consisting of caravans, buses and even tents - are the semi-permanent homes of a small, but hardy group of people who say they are there for the lifestyle. Mark Price reports.
Firewood and sunshine seem to be the two crucial requirements of campers who winter over in the Upper Clutha.
When the Otago Daily Times called at the Albert Town Camping Ground on Monday, the ground was centimetres deep in snow but each vehicle had a smoking chimney and solar panels.
Manager Nick Todd, who lives in a large caravan equipped with solar panels, batteries, a generator and a small wood-burning stove, said he loved the snow.
''... because we've got our wee fire and we just sit inside and we have a beer and watch the snowflakes.''
Mr Todd said he had been living in his caravan for about three years, and in return for free rent cleaned the toilets and made sure others who stayed paid their fees.
Originally from Queenstown - his father Jim owned the Frankton Motor Camp - Mr Todd has no plans to give up the camping life.
''You have sort of got the freedom of being closer to nature, I reckon.''
Most campers move on as winter approaches, although Mr Todd says there are still two in tents, one who has been resident for three months and has a job in Wanaka.
Mr Todd is not sure how much longer the tents will be around.
Wayne Kent (64), on the other hand, has a well-insulated, English-made caravan with double-glazing, a gas cooker and heater, solar panels, TV, toilet and bathroom.
On snow day, Monday, he made muffins, then went for a look around and was enjoying the camping ground's last bit of sunshine when the ODT called.
After two years at Albert Town, he knows exactly where the best site is for maximum winter sunshine, enabling his solar panels to keep on charging his batteries.
Mr Kent moved from Karitane to Wanaka ''for a change'' and prefers the cold of the mountains to that of the coast.
''A different kind. Wet down there, dry here. People come up here and say `oh it's freezing' when they see the snow. But I don't find it cold.''
He plans to stay at Albert Town until his retirement next year, when he might move 100km-200km further north.
For the moment, he has a part-time job driving school buses, and spends the rest of his days doing exactly as he pleases.
Derek Grzelewski is another planning to spend the winter camping at Albert Town.
''Winter is my time to write and ski.''
Fishermen will recognise him as the author of The Trout Diaries and The Trout Bohemia, but outside the fishing season, a little snow on the ground around his campsite is of no consequence.
He, too, has solar panels to keep his internet firing, gas for cooking and a Little Cracker wood stove, sometimes used by ice fishermen, to keep his caravan warm.
''It's like living in a yacht.
''Everything is small, but you have everything you need.''
Mr Grzelewski, with his 4WD, his caravan and his dog Maya, says he likes having ''no attachment to things''.
He describes the Albert Town camping ground as ''prime real estate'' with mountain biking tracks, the river and mountains at his door.
The people who come and go in their camping buses, he finds, are often elderly and are always regretful they did not hit the road sooner.
''Why wait?'' he told the ODT.
''Do it while the going's good.''
