Merry Christmas from Bay of Plenty Naturists

I wish all our members, friends and family a very merry Christmas. Have a great day and remember to look after yourselves today and everyday.

Christmas party at Bay of Plenty Sun Club

BOP Naturists were invited to attend the BOP Sun Club's Christmas party at the club's grounds near Matata last weekend. Activities included Christmas themed body painting, happy hour with bubbly and ham provided by the club followed by a sumptuous pot luck Christmas dinner. All agreed that the food at BOP Sun Club is, as always, the best ever!
After dinner, there was a present swap with a difference, where Col and I ended up with two similar 'lizards on a rock' which now grace our new rockery.

Christmas party

A group of about 30 members of the Bay of Plenty Naturists spent a relaxing day at a members private property for their annual Christmas party. Bay of Plenty Naturists provided finger food and drinks and it was great to see some new members come along to socialise with the more established members.
At happy hour, we were visited by the man in red, complete in the appropriate uniform, who arrived in his sleigh, ably towed by Rudolf and accompanied by one of the Christmas fairies. Even Karla the dog got into the act!

After Santa distributed a gift to all present, a pot luck BBQ followed then everyone settled in around the fire as the sun set on another beautiful Bay of Plenty day.

BOP Naturists join NZ Naturists at Katikati Naturist Park

The weekend weather forecast was looking dodgy all week until mid-day Friday when it suddenly changed to fine and sunny, making it perfect weather for the NZ Naturists event at Katikati Naturist Park. About 40 naturists from as far away as Kaitaia in the north to New Plymouth in the southwest came along for the fun.

Some of the naturists at the NZN weekend at KNP

The weekend started on Friday with those present getting together for happy hour and a barbeque. A soak in the spa ended the day nicely.

More people arrived on Saturday, with many coming in time for morning tea and a chat. The games started soon after and ran throughout the day, with a couple of finals being played on the Sunday morning.

Petanque was very popular with 20 entries and other sports included table tennis, mini-golf, frisbee golf and pool. Between games, the swimming pool was a great relief from the very warm conditions and afternoon tea was provided to keep up the energy.
Everyone gathered for happy hour in the gazebo, with a few spot prizes being handed out, before a shared pot-luck dinner fed the masses. After dinner, 24 took part in a fun quiz before retiring to the warm spa or bed.
Sunday morning dawned fine and sunny again and Col, the Secretary of NZN provided cereals and a cooked breakfast of bacon, eggs and hash browns, which was a great way to start the day. After morning tea, prizes were handed out with the sports winners getting a 'cup' (coffee mug) and also a prize off the prize table. Several other deserved awards were made so that everyone went home with a prize of some sort.
Gatherings like this are a great way to enjoy the naturist camaraderie with people from all over the country. All of the people present were members of both the NZ Naturists and BOP Naturists. Several people staying at the park were very interested in what we were doing and joined us as well. This type of promotion can only increase the interest of newcomers into the naturist community.

Weekend in Waihi - Part 3

Naturist day at Waihi Beach

Col and I were joined by two families at the recognised naturist section of Waihi Beach in the beautiful Bay of Plenty. We cycled from the end of Waihi Beach town to the naturist beach accessway. Once there, we pushed the bikes through the sand dunes and onto the beach.








It was a cloudy day but very warm. The boys all went swimming - the girls knew better - although the water was quite tolerable for so early in the summer.










The only visit we had while at the beach were 4 horses (and their riders) and a dog. Other than that, we had the beach pretty much to ourselves.







One of the members produced a kite and demonstrated his skills with the two string flying machine. Apart from trying to hit his partner on the head a couple of times, he did very well with it. The breeze was perfect for kite flying.










Col and I cycled back along the beach. It was still warm and ended a fantastic weekend. Along the way we saw a great sand sculpture and just had to get a photo of it in naturist uniform. Someone had spent a lot of time working on that piece of art.

Weekend in Waihi - Part 2

Orokawa Bay beach day

The second event that Bay of Plenty Naturists held over the weekend was a day at Orokawa Bay at the north end of Waihi Beach. Twenty-one adults and 3 kids walked the 45 minute track around the point to the private beach at Orokawa Bay.  The walk was steep at the start and finish and slowly climbed to a viewing platform about 2/3 of the way over to the bay. From then it was downhill to the beach, and was easily managed by all who went on the walk.
Once at the beach, we settled down under the pohutukawa trees and enjoyed a peaceful few hours naked at the beach.



Although the sea was a bit rough, we were close to a small stream which the kids enjoyed playing safely in and which some of the adults also cooled off in (and played in)!

The beach had some amazing driftwood which made for some interesting photos and the view out to Mayor Island was a beautiful backdrop.




















There were some mussel-covered rocks at the end of the beach as well, which were pretty rough on bare feet!

Weekend in Waihi - Part 1

Hauraki Cycleway

Although not an advertised naturist event, Col and I joined 4 other members of the Bay of Plenty Naturists group for a bike ride along part of the Hauraki cycleway. We rode two legs of the cycleway from Waihi Railway Station through to Waikino then on to Karangahake a distance of 30km return.

It was a lovely day as we set off along the newest section of the track from Waihi to Waikino. It was however a bit steep with a lot of up and downs to start with while it followed the river. But as it got onto an old rail siding to the old stamping battery, it leveled out. However, being a new track, the shingle was a bit loose and dangerous, as Lyn found out just before we got back. She was dismounting to walk over the final bridge and skidded in the loose shingle, damaging her knee and grazing her leg and arm. So if you are cycling on this section, take care!

The section from Waikino through to Karangahake is a well established flat ride along the old Karangahake Gorge railway line. Here we reached high speeds in the perfect conditions and felt much safer on the hardened shingle.




We stopped for lunch at a picnic table amongst long grass, before riding up to the tunnel at Karangahake.
After I fell off my bike several years back, when I dismounted too far into the tunnel and couldn't see the sloping edge, falling and breaking my arm, I now walk through tunnels, which we all did!






On the way back we stopped for a coffee at the Waikino railway Station cafe before heading back to Waihi. All in all a memorable days exercise but not one that could be done naked due to the large numbers of people using the trail.

Phoenix Shield challenge

The weather was warm and sunny last weekend and the competition was fierce for this years annual Phoenix Shield challenge between the Bay of Plenty Sun Club and Waikato Outdoor Society at the BOP Sun Club's grounds. The competition was so close that neither club knew who had won until the presentation ceremony on the Sunday morning.
Over 25 naturists from both clubs and eight from BOP Naturists (who don't belong to either club) enjoyed the occasion and the games that were part of the challenge. Both team challenges and individual games were played in good spirit which is usual for the Phoenix Shield event. The games were very relaxed, simple and with team games included, most people took part.
Some of the team games are featured here. There was an egg and spoon race with real eggs followed by egg throwing. My partner for the games and myself threw our egg so far that everyone thought it was hard boiled - until it broke in my hands! Running with a balloon between the legs in a relay was very entertaining and a hoop relay with 2 hoops and 2 people having to get from one end of the course to the other without moving out of the hoop required a bit of lateral thinking.

Individual games were based on throwing things. Firstly we had to throw a petanque ball as a shot put, a gumboot, a frisbee and even the caber. One participant got the booby prize for throwing her gumboot straight up above her head while several others threw theirs into the pool! We also had to make a hole in one with a golf ball and upturned umbrella.

A few games of mini-golf, horseshoe throwing, volleyball, and petanque followed for individuals to compete in before happy hour and the hat competition.















There were some fun hat creations that would rival any at Ellerslie (and some that wouldn't)!


After a pot luck dinner provided by the BOP Sun Club members, a radio and TV personality from Rotorua hosted a quiz night. The teams from earlier in the day joined up again to answer some of the varied questions. The questions on the Renaissance left most of us stumped as did the themes from TV shows in the 70s and 80s. Just showed that we were all far too busy in those days to watch TV.


The winning team wasn't announced until the next day with the quiz being the deciding event that determined which club would hold the Phoenix Shield for the coming year.

Oh - I suppose you want to know which club won? Well once again Bay of Plenty reigned supreme by a slim margin, due to their knowledgeable teams who were placed (out of 7 teams), 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th in the quiz.

Beer fest at BOP Sun Club

Although not a Bay of Plenty Naturists event, members were invited to the Bay of Plenty Sun Club to join in with their Labour Weekend festivities. The weather was great when the sun was out, but the air was very cool when it disappeared behind a cloud. Still it didn’t stop many of us getting the start of a tan (some a little red tan!) and feeling the freedom of no clothes after the long winter.

On the Saturday night, we had a pot luck dinner followed by a beer tasting competition. With 13 different unlabelled beers to taste and identify, the results showed that we really don’t know a lot about beer! The winner got 2 right and I got 1½ right (the half for saying stout instead of Guinness)! The beer tasting, was followed by drinking the products (well we couldn’t waste it eh?) and then a few fun games. 

On Sunday, we lazed around in the sun then Col and I went for a bush walk taking some photos in the bush and around the creek.

That night we had a shared BBQ after happy hour then honed our quiz skills in preparation for the quiz night as part of the Phoenix Shield against Waikato Outdoor Society in a few weeks.
Another brilliant day dawned on Monday. Col and I went for a bike ride to Matata 5km away. It was a relatively easy ride to the beach, but coming back we had a head wind, so this tested our ‘not-used-much’ leg muscles. Still we made it back in time for lunch, before heading back to civilisation mid-afternoon.

Summer events calendar out now

We are holding out last dinner meeting on Saturday night, so that will wind up the winter activities. Unfortunately it seems that our hot pool nights will not start up anytime soon due to the pools being closed due to mechanical failure. But now that we are heading into spring and with daylight saving starting next weekend, there are plenty of great events planned for the summer.
From now on there will be more outdoor activities to take us through to March/April. These include bush walks, beach days, picnics, naturist club events and campouts. Some of the dates might still change, but if you are a member of the group, you will be informed of these changes in plenty of time.
To find out more about the Bay of Plenty Naturists group and the planned events, contact me on bopnaturists@gmail.com.

Polar Bare Plunge

Nineteen hardy Bay of Plenty Naturists (including a couple of kids) took part in the annual Polar Plunge at Katikati Naturist Park. The pool temperature was a mild 12^oC (1 ^oC warmer than last year)! Most warmed up in the spa pool, before posing for a photo by the main  pool. Then it was all on, with lots of shrieks and squeals, lots of splashing then a quick dash back into the spa pool to warm up the frigid bodies again. Some of the keen (crazy?) participants even went back in for seconds! Some arrived later and still did the deed, and it was great to see some kids take part as well. Good on all those who did the plunge. I would have joined you but hey, someone had to take the photo!

A glass or two of sweet, spicy mulled wine was served to all present to warm up the insides, followed by some hot savories. Thank you Linda for making up the ‘mulled’ part of the mulled wine. It was so popular that the participants asked me for the recipe. So I twisted Linda’s arm and here it is.

Linda’s Mulled Wine

1 cup water                                                                                 ½ cup brown sugar

4 cinnamon sticks                                                                        10 whole cloves

4 star anise                                                                                 2 cardamon pods

Rind of 2 lemons

Boil all together and leave 24 hours. Strain and stir into warmed red wine. (I added 2 litres of port to the mixture above).

Following on later was a Karaoke evening by Willie (the Groove Dokta). There were some hidden talents amongst those present and the music and dancing carried on well into the evening. Thanks Willie for taking the time to come along and entertain us (and for jumping in the pool)!

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A good turnout at Oropi

Our return to Oropi hot pools near Tauranga after an absence of 5 months, was celebrated by over 40 members of the Bay of Plenty Naturists last night. With the pools being closed for maintenance since the beginning of the year, it was obvious that the members had missed this great night out going by the huge turnout. We had members from as far away as Auckland come along on a mild May evening to enjoy the lovely facilities at Oropi.




As well, it was the 71st birthday of one of the members, so she celebrated by joining 30 other members for dinner in the cafe and blew out the candles on the cakes provided by the group.
These monthly gatherings will continue throughout the rest of the year. If you would like to come along, email me on bopnaturists@gmail.com.

The inaugural 'Nudesby Picnic'

Some members of Bay of Plenty Naturists enjoyed a unique and novel experience over the weekend. It was the inaugural 'Nudesby Picnic' at a private property in Tauranga. And it will not be the last!
Based loosely on the traditional 'Gatsby Picnic', a celebration of the 1930s 'posh' picnic, the 'Nudesby Picnic' turned out to be one of a kind. The picnic was held on the 'Village Green' at a park-like garden and those present, got into the theme coming suitably 'dressed' (or undressed) for the occasion.

It was a brilliant warm, sunny day and the array of 'costumes', (bow ties, boaters, boas, beads, etc), suitably adorned picnic tables with silverware and bone china, cucumber sandwiches, cup cakes and other fancy sweet delicacies, such as butterfly cakes and meringues, along with jazz music playing in the background, could have made you think that you were reliving the past!

To add to the event, a group of local artists came along to join in the fun. After all, drawing was one of the activities that the gentry undertook at such events. Several members posed as life art models, much to the delight of the artists present who really enjoyed the atmosphere and the novelty of drawing outside on a warm sunny day. They came equipped with a gazebo and set up their easels in the centre of the 'Village Green'.


While they sketched, other members played games of the era including marbles, horseshoes, quoits, croquet and petanque.
Of course no 'Nudesby Picnic' would be complete without the people who made it so much fun. It was a great day and heralds a new annual event on the BOP Naturists calendar.

Opoutere Beach weekend

Well after all the fabulous events during the summer, you wouldn’t think there could be anything better. But there was! Our third annual weekend at Opoutere Beach was once again a great success. The endless summer carried on and we had two wonderful sunny days, with little wind to spend at this recognised naturist beach.

A large group camped in the campground. Some went fishing. The results didn’t supply us with much fresh fish, although one member did catch one and the fishermen learnt a new skill – how to catch pipis (shellfish) with a fishing rod! All of the group went to the beach and although the surf was a bit unpredictable, managed to catch some good waves with their boogie boards. On Saturday night we all joined up for happy hour and a shared meal. On Sunday morning after our own naked chef cooked us all breakfast, we all headed back to the beach, with six of us walking the 5km stretch along the beach to the ‘island’ wearing nothing but a hat. Magic!

The one thing that was evident during this weekend was the age of the group members present. Although the ages ranged from 2 to over 70, the average age would have been much younger than at many previous naturist events we have been to recently. These members sure enjoyed themselves this weekend and it is great to see this new generation of naturists coming to the fore. Although I don’t keep stats on the age group of members, I can certainly see that the group is attracting many ‘generation Y’ naturists to the fold – which can only be good for naturism in New Zealand. 

Napier's Art Deco Weekend

A group of ten BOP Naturists camped beside the sea along Marine Parade for Napier’s Art Deco weekend. Here we met for Happy Hour and then all went along to the RSA for dinner, decked out in our 1930s gear. After dinner, we all went our separate ways and enjoyed the night-time events, whether it was dancing in the streets to the live jazz bands or watching the free concert at the Soundshell.

This city sure knows how to rock (or should I say Charleston)! Everything about the weekend (actually it is a whole week) is geared around how the city was after the 1931 earthquake, when it was flattened and rebuilt in Art Deco style. Many of those buildings are still standing (or if demolished, the facades are still there) so put everyone in 1930s dress, have about 200 vintage cars around the town, get out the steam engine, traction engine and vintage bus, fly old planes overhead and have a few jazz bands playing in the streets and you would think you had been transported back in time to the 1930s.

It is very hard to explain how great this weekend is unless you have been there, because it is the atmosphere that drives it. Everyone is having fun – including the children – who also get into the swing of it (they even have their own soap box derby!). There are no drunken louts in the town to spoil this fun family weekend. Most events are free and if you haven’t been before you really must experience it at least once in your life. I guarantee that then, like us, you will want to go year after year.

The vintage car parade went on for about ¾ hour. Then they were displayed for everyone to see along Marine Parade, while jazz bands played in the streets. 

On Sunday we went to the Gatsby Picnic, where we enjoyed the picnic atmosphere along with hundreds of others, who were picnicking with their fine china, silver tea service and old music. The jazz bands entertained us again and the Red Checkers and Harvards did aerobatics over the sea. We met up with some more BOP Naturists at the picnic and joined them at their gazebo for a spot of champers! What a great day!

Fun and games at the Bay of Plenty Sun Club

The weather was great, the turnout was great, there were a lot of visitors and the games were fun! What else can I say about the BOP Sun Club’s fun games weekend apart from fantastic! Many BOP Naturists (also members of BOPSC) were there and certainly got involved in the fun and games. We played horseshoes, petanque, croquet, mini-golf, pool golf (that’s swimming pool golf) and no-one got wet – take note Waikato! We also tried out a new game called fling golf. After a shared happy hour and BBQ, we finished the day with a darts competition.

Of course I must also mention the newly formed water volleyball team, which got in a lot of practice in the pool. It helped that the water was warm and someone brought a net and ball! Our visitors from Rotorua and Wellington enjoyed themselves, staying over the weekend and beyond. 

A fun weekend at Pyes Pa

The weather really turned it on for our annual weekend campout in the heart of Tauranga suburbia at Pyes Pa. By Friday night, there were already a dozen people there and this number grew to over 30 for Happy Hour on Saturday night. A large group based themselves and their campervans or tents at the park for the whole weekend.

A trip to the beach on Saturday was quite a blast – from the wind I mean. I think we all got more windburn than sunburn. Many of the group ventured into the surf, which with the windy conditions actually felt warmer than the air. Several young new couples were also there trying out the naturist lifestyle. We regrouped at Pyes Pa for Happy Hour and enjoyed a communal BBQ. This led to us all sitting around the fire till the full moon came up. With such a diverse and interesting group of people, the discussion was interesting – all topics from climate change to theoretical physics to astronomy! Which way the water goes down the plughole in the Northern Hemisphere vs the Southern was another topic.

On Sunday, after a breakfast cooked by our own naked chefs, Peter took us on another walk – this year up the same stream that we went down last year. A large group of us enjoyed the walk up the creek, except for me, who fell at the first post and twisted my knee. Some walked for an hour upstream while others went some distance in between.

On Monday, a large contingent visited the Bay of Plenty Sun Club and enjoyed a day at this lovely club. The pool got well used by many of those there. Some stayed on for a BBQ and we stayed on for the night.