Your special holiday place
A positive and powerful influence on our children's lives.
Have you ever thought back to your happiest childhood memories and realized that many of them are associated with special holiday places spent with family and friends? These experiences are more than just a fun break from routine – they are the places we associate with some of the best and happiest times of our lives. They have the power to shape our children’s lives in such a positive way and remain their happy places for the rest of their lives.
At Second Home, we believe that every family deserves to have a special place to form the beginnings of a lifelong association with family friends' relaxation and fun that will stay with you and your children for the rest of their lives.
Very few childhood experiences shape and retain such an important role in the lives of our children as the positive emotional connection holidays with family and friends create. It develops an understanding of the critical importance of building friendships with family and friends and has been one of the most powerful influential parts of my life.
Hi, my name is John Russell, and I am speaking from experience when I say coming back to Wanaka and Queenstown has bought amazingly happy memories for me of my childhood with my Mum and Dad, sisters, and friends. These memories remind me of my family and how happy we all were driving to Wanaka for our holidays.
My story starts when my Mum and Dad bought a tiny crib in the then sleepy little town of Wanaka on the South Island of New Zealand. The year was 1964 and me, Pops and Mum and my two sisters Di and Genny set out from Dunedin to drive the 4 hours to our new crib in Wanaka. The excitement built as we drove our EH Holden loaded with all our holiday stuff, through the stone fruit capital of the South Island towards our destination Wanaka.
I still clearly remember driving onto our 1/4 acre section and setting eyes on our tiny crib for the first time. We were all so excited. This was the beginning of some of the happiest times of my life with my family, and those memories are still so strong to this day as I ride my new ebike around the same town that I rode my old second hand bike around with my neighbour Pete some 60 years ago.
Wanaka holidays consisted of time spent with Pops, Mum and my sisters and the many friends and relatives that drove onto that prized section.
To this day I have such a strong connection to Wanaka and the surrounding area and it is such a good connection. It brings me back to the simple pleasures of spending time with my family and friends and reminds me of the importance of holiday time in our children’s lives. The happy memories come flooding back and it feels good, very good in fact.
I am living proof of the positive influence a family holiday destination has had on my life. My wife Sharon and I have followed in the footsteps of my Pops and Mum in creating a family holiday destination for us and our six children and 4 grandchildren and we hope they will all experience the lifelong memories and positive influence on them that it has on us.