Our owner, Sarah, and two of our team, Michelle and Ann-Marie, put their backs into it and spent a day planting trees. This is just one of the many initiatives we support locally within our Wānaka and Lake Hāwea communities as we are all as a team committed to sustainability and the preservation of our local region.

We know how blessed we are to live in one of the ost pristine and stunning regions in New Zealand and we don’t take that lightly! Throughout The Camp you’ll find our amazing grounds team doing everything they can to ensure we are more sustainable as a camp ground and in general from composting to clean-ups, to plans for a chicken coop and herb and vegetable gardens, to sourcing recyclable or compostable single use items, we are committed as a team to leaving a regenerative legacy for future generations to enjoy.

This region, this land, these lakes, and our people – they are important to us which is why we get out and support our local community initiatives as much as we can. We hope you’ll join us!

We were among 30 Upper Clutha businesses to attend the workshop.

Over the course of the morning, we heard from four businesses who have already made inroads into managing their waste and made real and lasting changes.

It was refreshing to hear from other local businesses who, like us, were tackling the issue of how we can continue our efforts as businesses in the race to reduce waste and we felt that we were certainly among those making a concerted effort. Our sustainability and regeneration efforts out here at The Camp are a top priority, while at the same time giving our guests the most authentic quinessential camping experience in New Zealand, so it was great to hear how others are managing their own unique situations.

After a delicious morning tea from the Fedeli team, we broke off into groups to discuss practical challenges and solutions to reducing and minimising business waste before we joined together to go over these and come up with action points to help everyone on their way.

The overarching message was clear: there’s strength in numbers, whether it’s in demanding change from suppliers or working together to establish a composting hub.

The energy and motivation were palpable and we’re excited to see what lies ahead for the region as well as what we are already doing and how we know that this will improve our environment and our experience for our guests, our team, and the land we hold so very dear.

Born in Wales in 1968, Rob spent most of his childhood as an army kid. With his Dad in the British Army the family travelled a lot including a stint at the world-famous Stonehenge and Germany. This early wanderlust no doubt kick-started Rob’s lifelong love of traveling and experiencing new cultures.

Rob left school at 16 and sat his mechanical apprenticeship at the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME) in London. Completing the two-year apprenticeship in 1986, and after his Dad retired, Rob moved to Barbados with his Mum and Dad.

With both parents hailing from Barbados originally, before meeting each other in London in their early 20s, it was a natural choice to escape army life and live the island life for a change of pace. Landing on the island as young 18-year-old, Rob initially helped his Dad build their family home, situated in stunning Saint James, right on the Caribbean Coast. Located on the west coast of the island of Barbados. It’s known for the upscale resorts, golf courses and restaurants dotted along its Caribbean Sea coastline, with a parish population of around 30,000.

“It was great to finally see and experience my Bajan culture and spend time with the family, said Rob. “Having travelled extensively, I was used to different cultures, but nothing beats being immersed in your own culture”, he added.

Rob soon embraced island life, learned to cook (especially fresh from the ocean) and experienced the food and lifestyle to its fullest.

“I surfed a lot”, reminisces Rob. “Basically, I lived the island life exactly how you’d imagine it to be: everyday it was beaches, fishing, sailing, jet ski, hot sun and surf. I was living the dream. It was a brilliant life”.

Not long into his Barbados experience, Rob’s life took on a new turn both family wise and career wise. Rob’s son Jermaine, who is now 29, was born in Barbados. While he now lives in Canada, studying Visual Arts, he and Rob are close and talk all the time.

It was Jermain’s arrival, and his first “proper job with responsibility”, that saw Rob really start on his career path. He worked for 5 years as a machine operator in Saint James with a team of 4 working for him at a factory that printed food and commercial boxes. He learned lessons in discipline, standards and leadership which set him up for his future roles.

However, it wasn’t long before a change of pace was needed and Rob moved back to London in 1991 where he got his first taste of hospitality, completing a food and beverage hospitality course. After just six months he started work at Harrington Hall, owned by a wealthy Arabian family, managing the conference and banqueting operations for events.

Rob’s hospitality career spans over 15 years, with highlights such as the Raddison Group’s Grafton Edwardian Hotel,  the Waldorf Hotel and Soho House to name but a few.

So what’s some of the highlights from such an illustrious hospo career? “I’ve worked for some of London, and the world’s, best known high-end establishments, including Soho House where I was asked to open a number of new venues and bars. It was pretty mad and intense at times and nothing shocks you,” adds Rob.

Rob’s served a few celebs in that time as you can imagine including Kylie Minogue, Robert DeNiro, Michael Schumacher, Jean-Claude Van Damme.

“While that was all great, I just felt I wasn’t t going anywhere career wise, so I left the industry and decided to do a course in gardening and then opened a small gardening business. Possibly London’s first sustainable gardening business,” Rob laughs.

The business started as just Rob, a push bike and some tools contained in a branded trailer that rode around London doing gardening jobs through word of mouth and bookings. It soon expanded and Rob had quite the gardening business on his hands, but the lure of travel was too much.

Rob’s spent a lot of his life working hard and traveling hard, taking in destinations across Europe, Africa, Spain, South America, Canada and the Caribbean. In 2008 though, it was the pull of New Zealand that caught Rob’s eye and in 2008 he moved to Wanaka with his partner at the time Ruth.

Travelling with them was Rob’s second son Harry, who was born in London in 2007, and third soon Otis was soon born in New Zealand in 2009 and daughter Rhona was born in 2018 in Wanaka, completing his family.

With no real plans for work or a business when arriving in Wanaka, Rob looked for work in the gardening industry, but initially came up a blank. It was an ad for a job at Wastebusters’ green waste department that proved successful getting Rob on the ladder locally. This soon followed by a stint at Queenstown Lakes District Council looking after the Wanaka irrigation systems, gardens, parks and recreation and some work for Wanaka Landscapes.

Fast forward 12 years from when he first disembarked that plane into NZ and Rob’s been with The Camp team for two years now responsible for ensuring The Camp grounds and accommodation look stunning year round. His experience in events and hospo is a great addition to the team as The Camp expands its event operations in 2021 with the completion of ‘The Beehive’ – a purpose-built geo deisic dome that will cater for 100+ people.

“The Camp is a really special place. It showcases a really different perspective to Wanaka. It’s super green most of summer, unlike other areas which are dry and very Central. It’s stunning here”, adds Rob.

“It’s funny”, says Rob. “You make decisions in your life about work and your career, not quite sure how it all fits together one day. Yet here I am in a place I love living, using my life skillsets in one role now. I finally feel my work life skillset is now fully put to use,” says Rob.