Waikato Outdoor Society Weekend

 We had a great weekend at Waikato Outdoor Society (WOS) a few weeks ago, The WOS committee and members welcomed us, even putting on some fine daytime weather, despite the not so good forecast. In total, we had 50 members come along. Most of the WOS members were also members of BOP Naturists and it was good to be able to mix with the WOS people, some of whom hadn’t been to any of our events happening on the other side of the Kaimai Range.

We started with a Friday happy hour which was followed by some members trying out the hot tub as it got dark. WOS have the most amazing hot tub, fuelled by timber, which if you put a log on the fire before you go to bed, will ensure that you can have a hot soak in the morning.

The solar heated swimming pool was working well, with the temperature at 25^oC, warmer than the air temperature.

The games entries were gathered up Friday evening and draws were prepared for both wet weather games and fine weather games. When it dawned clear, we decided to go with the outdoor games of petanque, Kubb, 3-down, golf and swimming. We also ran the Wii 10-pin bowling inside during the day.

Morning and afternoon teas were provided by BOP Naturists, which was a great way to get to know each other.

A potluck dinner followed happy hour on Saturday, which left everyone well fed. After dinner, a closely fought indoor bowls tournament was played, with the finals taking us into the next morning.

At 9pm, thanks to Bill for bringing his Sky decoder, some of us watched the All Blacks play the Wallabies. It wasn’t the result we had hoped for, with the Aussies winning 24-22, but it was an entertaining match, especially with Grant’s commentary skills!

Next morning, the two BOP Naturists naked chefs (Col and Kelvin) cooked a grand breakfast for everyone present. After the breakfast, the final of the indoor bowls was played and after morning tea, everyone was able to chose a gift off the prize table.

Back to school at Ngamuwahine Lodge

‘Every day is a school day’ – especially when you are having fun – as those at Ngamuwahine Lodge discovered.

Right from the start of the weekend on Friday night the place was buzzing. As people arrived, they were shown to their accommodation. As it happened, all the couples had their own rooms, and the unattached either had the choice of numerous beds in the dorms or their own rooms with two bunks (4 beds). The ‘teacher’, (P), was assigned the ‘teachers room’, complete with his own ensuite!

The large communal kitchen allowed plenty of space for everyone to store and prepare their meals. Many cooked on the large BBQ outside and with the weather being fine and warm, most ate their meals outside. On Friday night, we watched some music DVDs from our younger days like Queen, the Eagles, the Bee Gees etc. 

Saturday morning saw lots of activity in the kitchen and once breakfast was over, most settled down to partake in the school activities on offer.

On both mornings after breakfast, one couple took us through our exercise class, which was well attended. These were the Age Concern Otago ‘Steady as you go’ falls prevention exercises

(https://ageconcernotago.com/steady-as-you-go) which were a mix of balance, yoga breathing and Tai Chi type exercises. Though not vigorous, we all felt a little stiffer the next day. It just shows how simple exercises can strengthen muscles and joints that need it.

A group went tramping (or should I say boulder hopping) on the Ngamuwahine Track.

Another member took his baking class and made two large batches of cheese and date scones, others did jigsaws, some attended the art class doing some colouring in. Others played sport. Kubb was popular along with petanque, cornhole, and croquet. Music class was provided by a member with his ukulele. Others preferred to spend the day at permanent playtime, staying out of the action, sitting around talking to others. On Saturday night we had a quiz, which was followed by some more music DVDs and carpet bowls.

The clean-up crew on Sunday were amazing! They tidied up, swept, mopped, vacuumed, cleaned surfaces, washed dishes, cleaned bathrooms and loos, and did all the myriad of chores to make the place even cleaner when we left compared to when we arrived. The custodian was very impressed with how we left the lodge and the fact that Col and I had nothing to do on Sunday as far as cleaning went was testament to all who helped. There were so many of you who 'just did it'.

Thanks to those who dressed up in the schoolyard theme of the weekend – what a motley bunch of kids – but you all made the weekend the fun it was planned to be.

(This weekend was 2 weeks before NZ went into total lockdown due to Covid-19)

Our first hot pool night of 2020

Our first hot pool night of 2020 was held recently and was another great event. This time we were able to welcome some members from the UK, who were visiting us en route to the South Island. They luckily (or was it planned) coincided their visit with our hot pool night at Oropi.

They enjoyed meeting everyone and it was great that the 45 present at the pools made them feel so welcome.

We also welcomed a member from Taupo, who travelled north to join us and another from Auckland, who should just move to the Bay as he spends more time here than in Auckland (mind you I don’t blame him!). The pool was a good temperature for the warm night and the dinner was lovely once again, thanks to Al and Lisa’s good catering skills.

Our annual campout weekend

This fabulous annual event was a full-on weekend of fun, relaxation, life drawing artists, horse racing and great company for the 30 or so members who came along. The weather was also perfect the whole weekend.

Most people arrived on Friday and settled into their camp sites for the weekend. There was a lot of chatter at Happy Hour and then it was dinner time. We made good use of the two donated BBQs, which were kindly donated to BOP Naturists for use at our events.

We got a roaring fire going on Friday evening, which was nice to sit around as the night cooled off.

On Saturday, we had a group of artists come along to do life drawing. We had so many people offer to be models that they ran out of time to sketch everyone. A couple of new members really got into the modelling. Well done to you both. 

We set up the Kubb, but unlike last year, people were happy just to sit around and relax. A few were keen to get some exercise while the rest watched the artists or relaxed with a good book.

After lunch, the BOP Naturists race day was held. A fine array of colourful hats (the women) and ties (the men) lined up for our ‘fashion in the field’ judging, before the race meeting started. Three of the artists agreed to be judges and chose the winning costumes. Then the three colts and three fillies ran in 5 races, which was a lot of fun.

Then it was time for happy hour followed by a potluck dinner. The BBQs were well used again and the huge array of food fed us all admirably. We lit another roaring fire, which was so hot that the marshmallows caught fire but were still crisp on the outside and runny in the middle. YUM!!

The next morning, our ‘Naked Chef’ cooked a great breakfast of bacon, eggs, hash browns, baked beans and mushrooms. So no-one went home hungry!

After taking down the gazebo to prevent it getting damp overnight, some took up the opportunity to stay for another night at this idyllic property in Tauranga, so close to town but miles away from the textile world.

December 2019 events

Christmas party

It was a great turnout at our Christmas party at the hot pools when Santa left three boxes of goodies for all those attending. We had a record number of 54 come along. It is a shame that this number don’t come every time. It must be the $5 gifts Santa brought that encouraged the large number to come along! There was almost standing room only in the café until someone came to the rescue with another table! The ham that Al baked was delicious as were the salads and berry topped pavlova.

Waihi Beach weekend

Just before Christmas, we went to Waihi Beach. Although it was cold overnight with a cool southerly, we found that protected by the dunes, the weather was perfect both days – sunny and no wind. Although only a dozen came on Saturday, there were over 20 present on Sunday.  The sea was calm and although cool, several people had a swim on Sunday afternoon.