Her son Alan (56), also of Dunedin, shared the same sentiments, having holidayed at the park every summer since he was born.
The family's annual summer holiday tradition was founded by Mrs McLeod's late husband Ken, who recognised Glendhu Bay's appeal while accompanying his uncle, a butcher, on trips there to deliver supplies to campers.
After marrying, the couple went on their inaugural Glendhu Bay camping trip in 1953.
The lake, the weather and the people kept them coming back, and eventually they took their children Alan, Stuart and Carolyn with them.
"We had wonderful times," Mrs McLeod recalled.
"It was just taken for granted that you would be going to Glendhu Bay next year."
"Everyone hated going home that much that we would all look forward to next time," Mr McLeod agreed.
The family's camping site slowly expanded to cater for younger generations and Mrs McLeod's great-grandchildren were now part of the annual gathering.
At one point, the number of children in the group got so great the family had to disband and take up separate sites, but still within 50m of each other.
"It was just bedlam, so we split up the family members with their own friends at different sites, so we could keep track of all the kids," Mr McLeod said.
Not even owning a holiday home in Wanaka for 25 years stopped the McLeods from making the annual trip out to Glendhu Bay to set up camp for a month, "or as long as you could get off work".
In the early days, water-skiing was off the back of boats built by Ken, until he established a marine dealership in Dunedin in the 1970s and upgraded to more high-tech models. Lake Wanaka was always the main attraction of the camp.
"For everyone here, it's the water and that you're camped right beside it ... and that's what Dad always loved about it," Mr McLeod said.
Mrs McLeod has now traded her tent for "luxury" caravan accommodation, but the rest of the family continue to camp in tents, albeit with plenty of creature comforts.
A typical day camping for Mrs McLeod begins with a walk to the camp shop to pick up a copy of the Otago Daily Times, before indulging in her favourite holiday pursuits - people-watching and chatting to campers.
"It's a beaut place for seeing everyone," she said.
"Mum always has someone in here [her caravan] from around the camp talking to her," Mr McLeod added.
She still enjoys getting out on the family's boats, too.
"I'm not as agile and I'm sure I look dopey climbing in and out ... but I love it."
The McLeods said the camping ground had changed very little over the years - other than the opening of the camp shop and sealing of the "dreadful" gravel road out to Glendhu - and they hoped it remained that way, despite new "rules and regulations" creeping in.
Mr McLeod said Glendhu Bay offered "proper `Kiwi camping", with a friendly, family atmosphere and a freedom about it which more than compensated for its lack of fancy facilities.
"People say: `Don't you want to go somewhere else? How could you go to the same place for so many years?' ... and really, the only answer is there is no other place like this," he said.
"As long as the camp remains as it is then I would imagine that the tradition will just live on."
