New Zealand gonatural naturist magazine June 2016 #237

Naturist living ~ nudist life ~ naked happiness NEW ZEALAND

for health and well-being

Brando’s wild life laid bare

PUBLISHED SINCE 1956

237 June 2016

ISSN 2463-4743 New Zealand $8.75 Australia $9.75 UK £6.99

TV3 surprised • A newbie writes • Cruising Marlborough Sounds gonatural 237 June 2016

gonatural 237 June 2016

PHOTO Michael Moore

Dave Care with Madeleine Fauvinet (Madds) on board the annual nude cruise in the Marlborough Sounds, Scott celebrating Christmas lunch with a beautiful Canterbury Nor’ Wester South Island, New Zealand

“You don’t want to lose your old friend~the misery~you have invested too much into false~Hence the fear to be exposed~to be true~to be naked as you are....

-Osho-

NEW ZEALAND

for health & well-being

PUBLISHED SINCE 1956

June 2016

MAGAZINE OF THE NEW ZEALAND NATURIST FEDERATION INC

The magazine for freedom lovers and those who embrace the naturist way of life characterised by the practice of communal nudity with the intention of encouraging self-respect, respect for others and the environment.

The benefits of naturism are wide and varied, from health benefits to therapy; from getting close to nature and the simple pleasures of pure freedom...let us show you how you and your body can benefit from the lifestyle that is nude recreation - or naturism.

It’s good for your health. Measured sun exposure and vitamin D is very good for you. Naturism is more about doing normal, everyday activities, without the encumbrance of clothing and helps in prevention of many diseases from rickets to some forms of cancer (including melanoma), arthritis, osteoporosis, diabetes, asthma and cardiovascular disease.

Mental health - Being naked outdoors on a sunny day isn’t sexual, but it is sensual – a delight to your senses.

Self Esteem - An increase in euphoria, naturism helps to increase confidence and self esteem.

Lifestyle - Experience the true ‘freedom’ of exposing your whole body to nature’s elements.

Freedom - gain a sense of freedom when you remove the ‘entrapments of civilisation’ Recreation and Enjoyment - enjoy sports and many active pursuits.

ON OUR COVER Naturist living ~ nudist life ~ naked happiness NEW ZEALAND

for health and well-being

Brando’s wild life laid bare

Lake Tekapo

From the editor It’s winter in New Zealand!

The mighty Southern Alps, Mt Ruapehu, Taranaki and Ngauruhoe, are all capped in a stunning white blanket of snow as naturists in the Southern Michael Moore Hemisphere often have to hibernate inside, around a toasty winter log fire.

On a beautiful Autumn afternoon, I had the delight to visit the Wellington Naturist club, situated on the northern outskirts of Wellington at Te Marua, Upper Hutt.

June was my wonderful host. It has been some time since I’ve visited the capital’s club and the grounds are looking beautiful. Preparation is well underway for the World Congress of Naturism being hosted there in November. With just under half a million in the regional population, it’s such a shame that many more don’t take advantage of this beautiful facility.

I also trekked south to spend some time with Southern Free Beach for a lovely home-cooked meal and an evening swim with the folk from Orchard at Dunedin’s physio pool. Some wonderful southern hospitality and friendly people.

In this issue we explore the recent naked surprise on TV3; a newbie’s visit to a nude beach; the World Naked Bike Ride; Nudvan’s Safari; Nude Adventures cruise on the Marlborough Sounds. There’s also an insightful article by Kirsty Gordge from Otago University; an update about the November World Congress in Wellington, along with a review of the Women’s Renew weekend in the Waikato.

I had the delight to spend time with an extraordinary young New Zealander Brando Yelavich and hear about his unique achievement and positive attitudes about nudity. It’s refreshing and inspiring. I hope you enjoy his inspirational story and stunning photographs.

-Mike

Deadline for September issue: 20th July 2016 PUBLISHED SINCE 1956

237 June 2016

ISSN 2463-4743 New Zealand $8.75 Australia $9.75 UK £6.99

TV3 surprised • A newbie writes • Cruising Marlborough Sounds gonatural 237 June 2016

Brando ‘Wildboy’ Yelavich and Ngaio Gregory enjoying a remote mountain lake near Aoraki Mount Cook.

Editorial & Advertising editor@gonatural.co.nz PO Box 37375, Hallswell, Christchurch, New Zealand 8245 Subscriptions Print or Digital gonatural.co.nz/gonatural-magazine magazine@gonatural.co.nz Tel +64 21 32 1144 facebook.com/gonaturalMagazine

gonatural

237 June 2016

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Letters

NEW ZEALAND

for health & well-being

MAGAZINE OF THE NEW ZEALAND NATURIST FEDERATION INC Published since 1956

#237 June 2016 ISSN 2463-4743 PUBLISHER

New Zealand Naturist Federation Inc EDITOR

Michael P Moore editor@gonatural.co.nz MANAGER

Noel Thomas magazine@gonatural.co.nz DESIGN & LAYOUT

Michael P Moore ADVERTISING

editor@gonatural.co.nz PRINTER

Wickliffe New Zealand, Christchurch CONTACT

PO Box 37375, Hallswell, Christchurch 8245 www.gonatural.co.nz THANKS TO

Corey Shelton, Andrew Boyd, Jeff Chen, Wendy Lowe, Kay Hannam CONTRIBUTORS

Donna Miller, John Lowe, David Baric Brando Yelavich, Kirsty Gordge, Roger Watkin, Brent Anderson, Bryan Badger, Jeremy Kelleher, Shin Yee, Wilma Kremer, Brent Patterson, Frank Pagram, June Campbell-Tong, Patrick Fotheringham, Brent Anderson Purchase either the print edition from your bookseller or via subscription post, or subscribe to the digital edition online.

New Zealand’s national naturist magazine is published quarterly in March, June, September and December, by the New Zealand Naturist Federation Inc. Registered at the Chief Post Office, Wellington, as a magazine.

This magazine is protected by copyright. No part of it may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means electronic, mechanical, photo­graphic, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the Editor. In our desire to present different points of view, gonatural will publish articles and letters which may not necessarily represent the opinion of the editor nor the policy of the New Zealand Naturist Federation.

Deadline for September 2016 issue: 20th July 2016

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editor@gonatural.co.nz Just a note to say that we are very impressed with what you have achieved with the magazine in a short time. As for Mr McVicar and Rodney Hide, my opinion of these people is now on the same level as the child molesters they were trying to group the judge with. It takes a lot of courage to promote our lifestyle choice ,10/10 to the judge and Paul Henry.

- Joanne Wilson and Mike Hargest I fully endorse Mike Ward’s opinion about the sarong creeping into the club scene.

Sure there may be reasons for the sarongs being worn, but it just does not give the impression that all participants are convinced about the freedom that naturists believe in – and wish to convey to potential new participants. Our ‘skinny dipping down a moonbeam’ in Christchurch attracted new participants, who appeared comfortable to join Free Beach members in the briny. We do need support from the clubs to these Free Beach initiatives, and active media awareness from both NZ Naturist Federation and Free Beach publicists.

- Alan Perry. Christchurch I have always enjoyed social nudity at home and with some friends. I’m in my late 20’s but always found clubs are too expensive and do not attract a younger audience.

I visited a couple of clubs last year when I was travelling for work (Christchurch and Dunedin) but the older folk often made me and my friend feel unwelcome, as if it was their own exclusive private club.

- Angus C, New Plymouth “Nudists promote healthy image ...mere nudity is not inherently more sexual than a body concealed by clothing, the INF say” (Dec 2015). I wonder if this statement would be more appropriately worded like this: ‘The concealed body is more often inherently sexual, than the raw natural naked body.’ I am constantly telling my teen girls to be careful what they wear, but boys will inherently SEE it as sexual. Is that not a result of unhealthy mind conditioning?

Look no further than how sexually orientated the sales of clothing, cars and booze is.

This reminds me of a story about a lady complaining about the nudist next door. She called the cops and as they looked through the offending window, the cop explained how he could see nothing. The little old lady replied, “ If you stand on my table you can!”

- Allan Fredric, Southern Naturally, Southland My husband and I really enjoyed your March issue, and especially the lovely story by “little Gem”. It was refreshing seeing a story and wonderful photos from a young person whose family obviously embraces healthy normal nudity.

- Doreen Jordan, Manawatu

Some very good articles in recent issues, but alas March edition stooped to the lowest of the low. The article on page 13 Summer at Autumn Farm and the advertising of this outfit on page 34, has no place in this magazine. There is a magazine for these persons to publicise what they do and where it is happening and it certainly is not gonatural. Clubs throughout New Zealand are looking to increase membership nos but this will be one sure way to put a halt to that. The advertising of and articles of gay activities is something that must stop and with the INF conference this year, visitors will be wondering what the hell they have struck when coming to NZ. Will look forward to the next issue being gay free.

- Murray Mackenzie, Wellington Sun Club Everyone is entitled to be a naturist, even people with your opinion. I think you will find the INF folk embrace everyone. -Ed Laurel and I enjoyed your last edition.

We thought it was great.

- Les Olsen, Auckland I like the changes of style - especially the increase in features about different aspects of naturism rather than a large number of travel articles. My concern is about the lack of club news. Did no other clubs send news? Regarding your preference to print unclothed pictures, I agree in principle but, in the colder weather most, if not all, of our members will be clothed at social events.

I appreciate many of the changes you have made.

- Jeff Norman, Auckland Outdoor Club As NZ’s only naturist magazine, I strive to use photos that represent the aims of a naturist lifestyle. How about winter events around a roaring fire? -Ed A hard job yes, but if you consider that a publication should have word such as **** and ******* then I for one will not be renewing my membership.

- Peter Mayes, Nelson Congratulations on ‘gonaturally’, to use a cliche, Kay Hannan is a tough act to follow.

My wife Gina and I, enjoy the magazine very much.

- Max Lawson, Thirroul, NSW, Australia I wish to renew our subscription. We thought the March 2016 issue was excellent, apart from lack of rally report. We liked the little snippets of news throughout. Lots of good reading and photos. I joined Pineglades almost fifty years ago when I was young, firm, reasonably slim and fit. Over the years I have ignored trends of towelling robes and dressing gowns, while wondering why people needed to cover up when the weather was fine and warm [March 2016, wearing sarongs]. But, alas, life changes. (cont.)...

Trekking in ABEL TASMAN NATIONAL PARK

He

Inside

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Letters................................................................................ 2 New Zealand and world News.......................................... 4 Nudity on TV3..................................................................... 7 A first-time nudist writes.................................................... 8 Brando Yelavich’s extraordinary journey........................ 10 Nude Adventures in Marlborough Sounds..................... 18 Nudity and Rudity............................................................. 22 World Naked Bike Ride 2016.......................................... 24

4

World Congress of Naturism........................................... 28

8

Around the country ......................................................... 30 History............................................................................... 31 Subscriptions .................................................................. 39 NZ Naturist Directory ..................................................... 40 What’s On......................................................................... 41

Letters

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(continued)

editor@gonatural.co.nz I am no longer young or slim. What used to be firm has dropped considerably, and I have had breast cancer which means that after radiotherapy I should cover that boob. Men probably don’t realise how difficult it is for women who have put on weight or have surgery scars or stretch marks to strip off, but as the majority of women in our club are over 50, some of us well over, we have to realise that time brings all kinds of imperfections and dissatisfactions, but that is the fate of us all, and as our logo says ”grin and bare it!” I am still quite happy in my skin, though I occasionally look in the mirror and wish that lots of years and lots of kilos and lots of wrinkles would disappear. I wear a sarong thrown over my shoulder to cover my breast, and wear a t.shirt when playing miniten, but as a convinced nudist who sees no need for clothing in a naturist club I find it odd when young slim women feel they need to follow the sarong fashion and cover up what they should be happily very contented with! Make the most of it girls... Time catches up with us all.

- Julie E McCaw, Amberly, Christchurch.

18 18 22

24 what’s on

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London nude restaurant takes 30,000 reservations

News

The naked restaurant revolution is here, with The Bunyadi opening in central London over summer for three months, even the staff will the nude. The menu will include all-natural ingredients and cooking methods, and served on handmade clay plates with edible cutlery. "The idea is to experience true liberation," Seb Lyall, the founder said.

"People should get the chance to enjoy and experience a night out without any impurities: no chemicals, no artificial colours, no electricity, no gas, no phone and even no clothes if they wish to."

19-year-old New Zealand singersongwriter Ella Yelich-O’Connor, know as Lorde, had a ‘nip-slip’ at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art annual gala.

READER PIC: Spotted at Westport Beach, near the Buller River mouth.

Scientists have advised females to stop wearing bras, suggesting it promotes more tone and supporting breast tissue, whereas wearing a bra from a young age does not help support the chest, lower pain in the back or prevent breast sagging. Professor Jean-Denis Rouillon, a sport science scientist at University of Franche-Comte, France, said his 15-year research study on 330 ladies aged 18 to 35 showed that did not use bras have perkier busts, and had a 7-millimeter lift in their nipples. Bras might hinder flow and reduce bust tone. Medically, physiologically, anatomically, busts get no advantage from being denied gravity, on the contrary, they get saggier with a bra, the study found.

‘Ugly naked guy’ outed

After 20 years, Jon Haugen has been revealed as the man who played the ‘ugly naked guy’ on US sitcom Friends.

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gonatural 237 June 2016

This photo has been circulating on Facebook showing some brave woman who have endured breast cancer.

Facebook's nudity guidelines covered by their community standards rules are now respectful of publishing and discussing such important issues like this.

Naked Yoga takes (it all) off in Auckland Nude Yoga in Auckland has become so popular, they’re looking for a larger venue.

The organiser says nudity allows unrestricted range of movement and offers big benefits for self-esteem.

“There are lot of people with insecurities and fears about how their body looks,” he said. “Everybody has something that they aren’t comfortable with and there are so many images in society of body ‘perfection’ that we assume we need to look a certain way to be ‘normal’. It’s about all shapes and sizes, all people are welcome.”

TV3’s 7 Days panel show had a entertaining review of Auckland’s nude yoga group.

NUDIES are a pop-up community nudist group based in Melbourne, Australia.

“We view NUDIES as complimentary to all the other nudist groups working hard to produce nude events,” the organisers say, “Our point of difference is that we run events like nude trivia, house and pool parties, barbecues, festival excursions and naked laser tag, to push nudism into areas people don’t expect.

Bogota undresses for Spencer Tunick

“The most touching art experience of my life,” Felipe Villa said, one of the 6000 participating in Spencer Tunick’s latest mass nude photo shoot at Plaza Bolivar, Bogota, Colombia. “Being the same, away from the prejudices of our garments. I will always remember the cold and the silence of the morning, the noise of pigeons cooing and the click of a camera that materialized, what in my mind will be immortal.”

NAKED PRINCE

AUSTRALIA: No naked bike ride say Sydney Police; No nude beach QLD Govt NSW Sydney’s World Naked Bike Ride

Euro ‘naked’ vision

in April was again cancelled because Sydney Police denied permission to the organisers to hold the event, citing the Summary Offences Act 1988 ‘Offensive Conduct’ which is not what the Act intends for merely being naked.

Pop artist Prince died on April 21, 2016, at the age of 57. Lovesexy was his tenth album released in 1988, and the cover based on a photo by Jean Baptiste Mondino. It caused controversy depicting Prince naked. Some record stores refused to stock, while others covered the album.

World Naked Gardening Day was another success, according to reports on gonatural’s Facebook. The annual tradition celebrates weeding, planting and trimming hedges in the buff. It promotes a wholesome and unashamed acceptance of the human body, but is also meant to be fun, light-hearted and non-political, says founders Mark Storey, editor for Nude & Natural (US) magazine and permaculturalist Jacob Gabriel, as a project of Body Freedom Collaborative.

The Veronicas go naked

“In relation to your ‘World Naked Bike Ride’... I have reviewed your two page Notice of Intention to Hold a Public Assembly in which you propose that 100 individuals will ride bicycles in the nude from the Opera House to Hyde Park and back. Unfortunately the NSW Police cannot authorise such an assembly as it would contravene Section 4 of the Summary Offences Act 1988 - ‘Offensive Conduct’ [The maximum penalty for that offence is $660 or imprisonment for 3 months.]” Sydney Inspector Stewart Leggat said.

Meanwhile organiser of the Sydney Skinny naked swim event says its not about nudity “it’s about joy, courage, acceptance, attitude, and charity.”

“You’ll notice one of the words I haven’t said is nudity,” said Nigel Marsh.

“I know I’ve set up a nude event that isn’t about nudity and so I understand how people immediately leap to the wrong conclusion, but it is the wrong conclusion.

You are clothed on the land, then straight away covered by the water, and you get a sarong as soon as you get out.”

Not allowing people immediately after a mass nude swim to be naked in a safe social environment is odd and shames body acceptance.

QUEENSLAND Police Minister Bill

Byrne rejected two petitions to create a clothing optional beach, without the fear of prosecution. The State’s Public Safety Business Agency said wilful exposure laws were designed to ‘protect citizens and keep them safe’.

“I can advise that the government has no plans to change the legislation dealing with wilful exposure. Therefore, the designation of a clothing optional beach is not supported at this time,” Mr Byrne said. Queensland is the only state in Australia that has no legal nude beach.

Twins Lisa and Jessica Origliasso who form The Veronicas have posed naked on the cover of their new single In My Blood, only covered with a glittery purple paint. “It’s that elated, euphoric feeling of love at first sight,” they said on Twitter.

21-year-old Alexandr Ivanov from Belarus wanted to perform naked and surrounded by wolves in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest. “Every person identifies himself with a certain totemic creature. Sometimes we suppress it in ourselves but sometimes we have to face it. We want everybody to feel the thin line between humans and nature,” he said.

Farmside are advertising for their ‘naked broadband’ internet service, with large billboards across New Zealand.

Gender-neutral bathrooms OK

With so much discussion in the USA about gender-neutral bathrooms, it’s something that naturists have been doing for years. The new Federal Law requires schools to allow students to use restrooms and locker rooms “consistent with their gender identity.” The simple solution is to provide gender-neutral bathrooms for all. Naturist clubs around the world have long adopted this as a normal, natural and healthy approach.

We all share the same bathroom at home with everyone.

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TV IN EUROPE - NUDITY IS COMMONPLACE

The Press photographer Stacy Squires with Ray Butcher at Hikuraki Bay beach, Banks Peninsula, Christchurch

NAKED MEDIA

What’s the problem with nudity on TV? In a New Zealand first, a naked waitress appeared on a TV news story soon after 7pm. It wasn’t planned and amidst the outrage, most people didn’t seem to care a hoot. Michael Moore strips the story apart.

O

n a balmy May Wednesday evening, TV3’s live broadcast from Hamilton’s Memento Cafe ‘accidentally’ screened a naked female just after 7pm. It was a Kiwi first, at that time-slot.

“My first reaction when I saw it was, oh my god, you can tell I’m wearing hair extensions! So I wasn’t too impressed about that,” said 27-year-old Tyler Diamond of Auckland. The cafe was full with a cast of completely nude diners.

The naked dining event was spurred by the huge interest in Bunyadi (meaning fundamental, base, natural), a new naked restaurant in London where over 30,000 have put their name on a waiting list.

The Edge radio station, which loves to push the naked envelope, hosted the event and invited listeners to come along and join in. They invited TV. The waitress causally walked out of the kitchen to serve the guests.

“It was directly into the camera frame giving us something to follow to see the patrons sitting coyly around three tables,” John Lowe, Free Beach secretary said. “Well, we saw perhaps a bit more of a naked lady than is normal before 8.30pm on TV. Although you’ll note there’s neither pubic hair or any visible vulva in the less than half second that screened.”

TV host Duncan Garner was caught by surprise and apologised on at least three occasions during the remainder of the show.

John Lowe checked the screening was repeated in the ‘on demand’ online service. “Not only have they applied a mask over the no-hair-no-evident-vulva area, for good measure they’ve also put two masks over the breast area, which is covered by her long hair!” John

“I can’t believe I saw that,” said host Duncan Garner. He apologised to viewers saying they “saw too much”.

Earlier in the show he had expressed apprehension about cutting live to the restaurant. ““I can’t believe we’re doing this. I’m just a little worried, there’s so much that can go wrong.”

Lowe said. “I now await a Broadcasting Standards complaint, to see if all their angst was worthwhile.”

think having a bunch of nude people on live TV was a good idea? Pretty awkward to watch with the family,” said Chantel Hope. “Anyone who has a problem with the female or male body form has something very wrong with them,” Grady Michael Connell said.

“A bit of notice would be nice before you flash naked people to my 8 year old,” Trish Leaupepetele said. “You should be ashamed of yourselves showing a woman’s vagina at this time of night.

Your cameraman and presenters should know better. Disgusting journalism,” Chris Matthews, of Palmerston North said. “That live nude shot was not necessary! I get that you wanted to show this new restaurant but my young daughters and I didn’t need to see a vagina, a parental guidance warning would have been appreciated,” a mother commented. These folk need to learn where a woman’s vagina is located.

In one survey of over 20,000 viewers, 12% said there was no need for it, whilst 52% said they weren’t offended and it was just funny, and the remaining 36% There is no evidence that nudity causes said although they were surprised, it was harm to anyone of any age, whereas no big deal. Viewers reacted with a raft prudery results in appalling outcomes. of views: “Pathetic humans with nothing The most prudish western countries better to complain about. Their poor kids have about ten times the teenage will grow up ashamed of their bodies,” said Kylie Mills.

“Those TV3 - 7.20pm May 4th 2016 complaining about nude restaurant: Get over it!

You knew there would be nudity and had the option to choose. Good on Duncan and camera crew, this would have been very hard work but a job well done, “Oh gosh! You can tell I’m and good on those who wearing hair extensions! took part, high five to I wasn’t too impressed about you all,” said another. that,” said 27-year-old waitress “What made you Tyler Diamond of Auckland. gonatural

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pregnancy rate of the least prudish.

The TV3 story brought the debate to the fore and into many homes about nonsexual nudity, and how really inoffensive it is. That can only be a healthy thing.

When television viewers are continually exposed to violence, war, and explicit human suffering on the evening television news, and not even be outraged, people have become desensitised. So why should a naked human body command so much attention and shame?

In 2010 a complaint to the Broadcasting Standards Authority about a news story of Dunedin’s annual nude rugby was not upheld. “The morally dysfunctional BSA has given the green light to full frontal nudity in our news programmes and has no problem with sexual innuendo and offensive comments,” Family First director Bob McCoskrie said, who calls such depictions ‘sexual innuendo’ and ‘pornographic.’ The BSA said the item was broadcast after 8:30pm and included a warning that viewers were unlikely to have been offended.

In Europe, nudity on TV is now commonplace.

The epic Game of Thrones TV series has regular depictions of nudity of both male and female actors.

The recent BBC adaptation of Tolstoy’s classic novel War and Peace showed male nudity. The soldier, played by actor Oscar Pearce, offers Prince Andrei the opportunity to bathe as well, saying: “It’s alright your excellency, it’s not too cold. If you fancy it, I could order this lot out, you could have it to yourself.”

Television is coming of age, it’s maturing.

Some conservatives would suggest l • Actor Oscar Pearce in BBC’s War & Peace

A newbie nudist w Everyone’s got to start somewhere. David Baric was inspired by gonatural magazine. On a warm early autumn day, he visits to Opoutere Beach, on the Coromandel Peninsula. He shares his inaugural trip to a nudist-friendly beach.

STORY & PHOTOS David Baric

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beach would be either similarly nude or unbothered by nudity.

I had enjoyed being nude in nature for years, but this had always been a very private past-time for me: sunbathing in a garden hidden from neighbours; stolen moments in sunlit clearings off bushtracks; and early morning skinny-dipping at rivers and streams. I had never had friends that expressed any interest in this kind of thing, and in any case I was far too shy to bring up the subject. I also had a morbid fear of being "discovered", which in my imagination was in the form of a family friend stumbling across me nude out somewhere at a stream or forest and saying 'Gracious! I was just saying to your mother in church that I haven't seen you for years. Haven't you grown?'

I set off early, fortified with coffee, muffins and sunscreen, and soon found myself in a deserted car-park at the end of a road 5km from the Highway. There are signs everywhere about Dotterels, the endangered birds who have chosen Opoutere as one of their main breeding grounds and nest in the dunes.

hile I began this as a review of one of my favourite newly-discovered places, it has become more about my experience of being naked for the first time at a 'public' beach.

Another reason for my reluctance to get naked within sight of other people was due to an underlying concern of what others might think of me. It was only when I read something about the nudist experience being primarily one of enjoying the way your own body feels in nature and how nature feels in your own body, rather than worrying what others might think (and anyway, most nudists couldn't care less about how others look naked) that I became relaxed enough to consider being naked around other people.

So going to a nude-friendly beach was a big step for me, but one that I wanted to make as a kind of 'coming out' as a nudist, albeit in a rather controlled way.

I had read about a few beaches within reasonable proximity, and decided on trying Opoutere Beach in the Coromandel as being one likely to be suitably deserted, but where any others on the

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So, in November last year I made the plunge: I chose a Friday with a good forecast and made hasty excuses in a phone call to work. Actually, I said 'It's a sunny day and I'm not coming in as I plan to spend the day naked at the beach', and they said 'Haha, yeah right, whatever!'

There is a short walk through pine forest from the car-park at Opoutere to get to the beach, with the sound and smell of the ocean leading you on until you emerge from the shade suddenly onto a beautiful sunlit white-sand beach.

There was little swell on that first visit, and the tide was out exposing a long wide expanse of beach that stretched out about 5km to the North. The water was clear and calm to the horizon, with a few islands far off the coast. The sun had risen over the ocean and it was as lovely a scene as you could imagine.

I headed north up the long stretch of deserted beach, and found a patch of sand away from any of the tracks from the pines to lay out my towel and my book. And on removing my shirt and shorts I was suddenly completely naked, with the sun and breeze on my body: instant bliss!

So what is the difference? What difference does a scrap of cotton make?

Physically there is just a small change, with a little more of the body exposed to the elements, but psychologically there is a huge difference. Suddenly

writes...

there is no barrier between you and the world; the last vestige of civilisation has gone and you could be living in any time. I was struck by the thought that there was no difference at that moment between me, 21st Century man and my ancient ancestors. I was unburdened, unprotected, unimpeded; aware of the absence of the thin facade that we unthinkingly set up between ourselves and nature.

I ran down the sand and dived into the ocean, revelling in the sting of the cold water on my skin, hypersensitive to every tactile sensation. Emerging from the sea

I lay in the sand and let the sun dry my skin. I became braver then, and strolled a little way along the shoreline, daring myself to abandon the security of my clothes and towel.

Walking down the beach I saw a figure approaching from the opposite direction, and although my instincts were to turn tail and head back to my towel, I resisted the urge and walked on. I was relieved to find that the south-going Zax (see Dr Seuss for illumination) was an older gentleman as naked as I was, and he greeted me with a friendly wave as we passed. I instantly felt a comradely and realised I had become part of a worldwide semi-secret group of nudists, a fraternity whose only uniform is the

absence of one, and which everyone is free to join but only a few do.

There is a small island at the northern end of the beach which is accessible unless the tide is high which provides a little shade, and is a good vantage point to look out across the beach and out to sea. There were a couple of other nudists out there that day - one alternating jogging and leaping into the water, another quietly reading and soaking in the sun; and others who were dressed and seemingly oblivious to the undressed.

It was a glorious day and I packed up reluctantly to head home, feeling like I had just discovered a big and wonderful secret, and knowing that my life would never quite be the same. l gonatural 237 237 June June 2016 2016 gonatural

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Brando’s journ

A remote mountain lake above the Remarkables, Queenstown, New Zealand gonatural 237 June 2016

s extraordinary ney At just 19 years old, Brando Yelavich set out to became the first person to walk around the entire coastline of New Zealand. It changed his life and his world.

Michael Moore met the inspirational young Kiwi who is now a new man.

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ou can’t help but be in awe by the magnitude of Brando Yelavich’s achievement and by any measure, it was extraordinary in the face of so many odds. On the 1st February 2013, Brando set out on foot from Cape Reinga. 600 days later, on 24 August 2014, he entered the history books and arrived back at Cape Reinga having circumnavigated the entire New Zealand coastline on foot. It was a phenomenal achievement. Along his remarkable journey, his life changed forever.

“I left a boy, grew up, and returned home a man,” Brando told me.

I met this extraordinary 22 year old New Zealander in the world-famous resort village of Queenstown, surrounded by the bustling harbourside markets and ritzy shops. “This really isn’t my habitat, it’s the real outdoors, up there,” pointing to the mountains. We walked a short distance away to the nearby botanic gardens among the tall English Oaks planted by the pioneers 150 years ago.

Brando is an unassuming young man, polite, respectful, positive, yet with so much energy to burn. This wasn’t the same person just three years

earlier when his life was going the wrong way and decided there must be another journey he could take.

“I was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia.

This disadvantaged him and his desire to join the army.

“After mixing in the wrong crowd, getting into trouble and having a difficult relationship with my parents, I was inspired after watching Into the Wild,” Brando said. It was the real life story of Jon Krakauer’s 1996 book about the survival travels of Christopher McCandless across North America and his life spent in the Alaskan wilderness.

Unlike the idealistic young American, Brando lived to tell his story. There were many similarities: he lived off the land, hunted and fished to feed himself and taught himself to survive.

Along the way Brando learnt to really live, love himself and others and discover what he could achieve. He also experienced what it was to be at one with nature. “Nudity was something natural in the wild, when it was practical, I would often enjoy the many long stretches on beaches and rugged coastlines. So often I just didn’t need to wear clothes,” Brando said. Whilst he wouldn’t consider

himself a naturist, Brando embodies the true characteristics of what naturism is all about: respecting the environment and respecting others.

He didn’t need to judge himself or be judged.

“There’s no mirrors in the bush,” Brando says. “So it was just natural to not wear clothes sometimes.”

Brando Yelavich’s journey has impacted on thousands of young New Zealanders. Along the way when he ventured close to local schools, Brando shared his inspirational story that was unfolding before his own eyes. He gained confidence and ability he never knew he had and enjoyed seeing the joy in young children from his stories.

He adorns a number of tattoos, scars of a proud battle with his personal demons and unique ultimate achievement.

One is of a four-arrowed compass pointing north, south, east and west.

Along his journey, in remote locations, Brando carved this sign into trees and stones to record where he’d walked. and now wears the compass symbol on his arm with pride. “It reminds me of the journey and of the positive gonatural gonatural 237 237 June June2016 2016 11

influence everything had.

It means a lot.” He soon adopted the name ‘Wildboy’.

As a young man, he was tech-savvy and carried a GPS navigation device and tracker, GoPro camera, personal locater beacon and a smartphone. He fed regular co-ordinates into a website for his followers, “I updated my Facebook and website blog with posts and my latest photos regularly as I travelled.

I charged my devices using a compact portable solar panel.”

Additionally, Brando carried a crossbow along with fishing and diving equipment.

He had to fend for himself and find food in the wild. It was nothing short of extraordinary for a young boy of just 19 years old, but he was quickly becoming a man.

Along the way he encountered Ngaio Gregory, a young girl interested in his journey and inspired by his story. “It’s now been two years with this beautiful soul. I think I will go with double, so much love for you my wildgirl!” Brando says affectionately of Ngaio.

I remember when I first posted that [naked] photo on Facebook (printed on June 2016 cover of gonatural) I got lots of interesting comments,” Brando says.

“I wrote a caption saying ‘We are liberated. We are strong. we are young.

We are old. We are smart. We are wild and we are free. We are human. I am

happy! And I will make you happy, and you will make somebody else happy, and the trend will continue until one day everyone is happy, and everyone is sharing life’s wonderful experiences with people they love. Keep smiling.” It’s how I felt about this wonderful image of Ngaio and me.”

This part of the coast was by far the toughest terrain I'd encountered so far.

Brando’s followers said it was “an awesome way of experiencing the wild,” and “so proud of you two, you are what you are, awesome wild persons,” “one to show the grandkids,” “We are part of nature. We are Nature.” “Great message”, “Your grandad will love this.

He also believes in liberation.”

There was dense bush, right on the edge of the cliffs that rose up from the sea. I climbed up the cliffs and bashed my way through the bush. My legs were soon covered in cuts from the bracken and gorse, and the effort of climbing and cutting my way through the undergrowth quickly sapped my strength. I really should have stayed down on the beach.

For the first time since I'd left Cape Reinga, I completely broke.

When I suggested his story would make a great feature in gonatural New Zealand’s national naturist magazine, some responded abruptly. “He’s not making a statement you know!” one commentator said. “Well, actually I was [making a statement],” Brando told me. “It’s okay to be whatever you want to be.”

I threw my bag on the ground, sat down and started to cry. Then I started screaming, "What the fuck am I doing?!

Why am I doing this?!" There was no one there to hear me or to answer my questions. I felt completely mentally broken. All I wanted to do was give up and go home. I just wanted a hug.

“I think young people are exposed to excess porn and the human body is sexualised especially among my age group. Magazine and advertising shows things in a sexual way. I see so many are buried in [online] social media instead of being a real human, and not follow the stereotypes of society.”

After about half an hour (and a quick chat with Mum), it started to get dark so I managed to pull myself together and get moving.

“I had a lot of time to think and talk with myself while I was walking those

Eventually I found a little flattish spot on the cliff where I managed to pitch my tent half hanging over the edge.

8000 kms and I learn’t so much about myself.

I made mistakes and got stronger. I learn’t to trust and engage with people, something I hadn’t done much before,” Brando said.

“Yes, it was definitely life-changing for me.

I grew up. I learnt how to survive.

I learn’t about the kindness of strangers. I now tell others to find a way to do what you love every day.

I promise you, you will be happy,” Brando says.

He also wanted to do something great to helps others.

During his journey he raised $30,000 for the Ronald McDonald House Charity “I have always loved kids, and this was so wonderful.”

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Brando: In his own words

It had started raining and I knew there was no chance of me getting off the cliff before nightfall so I had to stay up there.

I had to lash my tent to a couple of big karaka trees, and before I went to sleep I even lashed myself to one of the trees.

It rained all night and I didn’t sleep that well given my tent was only secured to the cliff by some ties.

The next morning, I felt so much better.

I’d survived and I’d done what I thought I couldn’t do.

But I still had to get myself back up to the top of the cliff. It was more of the same – rocks, cliff face and thick bush.

I’d spent quite a bit of time bashing my way through thick undergrowth and slowly inching forward, when I suddenly found a 25-metre precipice. And when I say that I “suddenly” found it, I had actually pushed through the bush and fallen straight over it. I fell about 3 metres before, luckily for me, my pack hooked on some supplejack vines and stopped my fall. I was dangling 20 metres above a vertical drop in the deep bush. It was so freaky.

I grabbed on to the supplejack and slowly managed to get out of my pack and throw it down to the bottom.

Then I headed down the bank after it, hanging on to the kiekie that was growing down it. Once I reached the bottom, I took some photos of myself.

I looked terrible – my face was covered in bloody cuts and black from the dirt and mud.

Miraculously, the only damage done was my super-expensive Gore-Tex pants getting shredded from sliding down the bank, and my fishing rod, which had been in my pack, was broken.

That night, I was happy to make it to a little seaside bach that a couple of local farmers had said I could camp in.

After the day I’d had, it felt like complete luxury to have a roof over my head, especially because there was pretty much nothing for miles around.

After that I spent a couple of days walking along farm tracks up on top of the cliffs, which made for slightly easier going.

Food-wise, I was okay along here as there were freshwater crayfish in some of the rivers, plenty of wild goats, and even the odd – surprisingly tasty – peacock.

When I eventually got to Awakino, the people who owned the pub came across in their boat and took me back to the

hotel there. They made me so welcome, and looked after me really well. It wasn’t far from there to Mokau, where crossing was made much easier for me by the fact that there’s a bridge across the river not far inland. I was finally in Taranaki, and life suddenly seemed to get a whole lot easier.

There was a road along the coast so I could walk about 30 kilometres a day.

Walking on the road meant that I was a lot more visible to passersby, and a whole heap of people stopped and offered me lifts. I’d say, “I’d love one, but I’m walking for charity.” When they heard that, they’d quite often offer me a meal or a bed along the way. Having grown up in Auckland, I hardly even knew my neighbours, so having strangers stop to talk to me took a bit of getting used to.

Pretty much everyone I spoke to wanted to know what I was doing. And then once I’d told them, they all wanted to help.

In the early days, I was a bit hesitant, especially if people offered for me to go and stay in their houses. I’d tell them I was quite happy to stay in my tent. But after a while, when I started getting hungry, the thought of a bed and a meal made it really hard to turn down such generous offers. It was amazing – especially because I’d come from quite a dark place, where I found it hard to

communicate with anyone. It completely restored my faith in humanity.

So many people were just so nice to me – all it took was for me to stop and take the time to find out about them. It doesn’t matter how much money they have, or who they are, at the end of the day they’re still just a person with a story trying to live their life.

It was around this time that I started to make speaking at local schools a regular part of my trip. The smaller schools along the coast were especially fun as the kids were excited to have someone new come and talk to them. I loved that I could set off ideas in these kids’ heads, and that I could make them laugh.

On 23 March 2013, 51 days after setting out from Cape Reinga, I finally reached New Plymouth. It was then that I realised I might have underestimated just how long the whole trip was going to take.

I was maybe about a tenth of the way around the country, and I had already been going nearly two months. My sixmonth goal quickly went out the window, and I came to terms with the fact that this adventure of mine was just going to take as long as it was going to take.

• Extract reproduced with permission “Wildboy” by Brando Yelavich (Penguin NZ)

Ngaio Gregory and Brando “Wildboy” Yelavich Glacial lake, Aoraki Mt Cook National Park, New Zealand

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237 June 2016 11

PHOTO: Michael Moore

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TEDx, the worldwide inspiring leadership programme, invited Brando to share his story with a global audience in Christchurch. “I called my talk ‘How I Walked Back into my Life’, it kind of sums up what this experience did for me. It was a deeply personal talk about growth, personal responsibility, and everything that happened to me. It’s an emotional journey and an inspiring call to take control and to own our own lives.

Brando Yelavich was just 19 when he started out on his quest to become the first person to walk the entire coastline of New Zealand. He’s seen more of New Zealand’s unique environment in a way few have been able to glimpse. Just four years on, he’s become an inspiration for others beyond his years. He speaks with a zealous passion for life, . He’s accepts difference and people of all backgrounds and ages. They enrich him.

“We are liberated. We are strong. we are young. We are old.

We are smart. We are wild and we are free. We are human.

I am happy! And I will make you happy, and you will make somebody else happy, and the trend will continue until one day everyone is happy, and everyone is sharing life's wonderful experiences with people they love.

Keep smiling.”

- Brando Yelavich

“Free yourself from everything, all of the past, all of the future, live in the moment that you are in right now!

I promise you that your life will only get easier and your experiences will become more enjoyable. Peace love and a wild adventure’” Brando says, are his guiding rules for his new-found life adventure.

“Just do what makes you happy in your life and that positive human connection is the secret to life if you’re not happy change your life and start living not just slowly dying, because we all are slowly dying. This is your one chance at life you might as well do the stuff you love the hardest part is creating change but once it’s changed for your happiness you can only move forward,” Brando says.

Keith Levy, a Kiwi storyteller and social commentator put it succinctly about Brando Yelavich’s epic journey: “Many have considered it. Nobody has ever done it. It’s too daunting. You really need to be only 19 to consider it and Brando fortunately doesn’t know how daunting it might be. He’s sure to find out. This is undoubtedly his Everest.”

Now at 22, what next for this young adventurer? Brando is undertaking a Diploma in Adventure Tourism in Nelson, something that will suit his new office, and after his history-making circumnavigation of New Zealand, he’s now setting his sights abroad. He hope to trek the vast dry expanse of Australia, with a plan to cross the island continent from West to East coasts, a distance of just over 4,000 km, as the Kookaburra flies. It looks like a walk in the park for Brando.

Sharing time with this young Kiwi, was energising. Learning about his passions and the obstacles he’s overcome, and his mature outlook on life and naturism, he’s now a wild-man. The last tattoo he had inscribed on his right arm, summed up everything... l “What goes around comes around but Wildboy

by Brando Yelavich is available from wildboy.co.nz or your local bookseller.

Radio NZ interview tinyurl.com/BrandoRNZ TED Talk tinyurl.com/BrandoTED

gonatural 237 237June June2016 2016 15 13 gonatural

GUEST OPINION

Discovering my naturist self

Not wishing to disturb them, I walked a few metres upstream, finding a discreet spot on the river bank to read my newspaper. “There’s a guy up there reading a newspaper,” one girl said when she saw me. Now I felt like the pervert!

What could be more natural than being nude amongst nature? It was an idyllic spot, the river cleaner and wilder than in Melbourne, with the smell of eucalyptus and the sound of bell birds.

Frank in Deutschland

STORY & PHOTO Frank Pagram “We’ve gotta go this way to avoid the nudist beach,” the leader emphasised.

The nudist beach was the unofficial free beach north of Somers, on the Mornington Peninsula south-east of Melbourne, Australia.

Age seventeen, I was on a bushwalk with the Walking Club of Victoria in 1975.

Why do we have to go to all this trouble to avoid a nudist beach?, I wondered.

Surely if we don’t like what we see we just can look the other way!

But avoid it we did, hiking along what seemed like endless dirt tracks in the scrub, swatting flies, when we could

have been strolling along the sand, dipping our feet in the water, enjoying a cool breeze on this hot day, and gazing across the azure waters of Westernport Bay. The nudists have got it good, I thought.

We’re the dumb ones.

This was my first “exposure” to nudism and not the best introduction. The implication was that nudists were perverts, an attitude that persists, and may have worsened, today.

Five years later I stumbled across three nudists in the bush outside Melbourne, on the Yarra River’s Bend of Isles. Two young girls were lying on inflatable mattresses on the river, while a boy sat on the bank chatting to them.

I kept returning, often finding I was the only one there, and finally having the guts to get nude myself.

It was a liberating experience! Although not a good swimmer, sliding into the river from the muddy bank, feeling nothing on my skin except water, I felt a connection with the fish swimming around me. It was similar lying on the bank, feeling the sun’s rays energising my entire body.

That was the beginning of my love of naturism! I did eventually make it to the free beach at Somers and found it just as wonderful.

Sadly, with attitudes seemingly becoming more conservative, and urban areas expanding, it’s becoming more difficult in Australia to find somewhere natural and accessible where one can remove his or her clothes and be as one with nature. Society will be the poorer as a result. l

Breastfeeding mother surprised by random act of kindness Briar McQueen of Mount Maunganui shared her experience online and received 14,000 comments and 300,000 ‘likes’.

Briar was approached by an elderly woman in a cafe while breastfeeding her eight-week-old son, she thought she was about to be told to cover up. “I went out for breakfast with my 8 week old son, I had just received my breakfast and hot chocolate when Jaxon started crying wanting his booby so of course I fed him,” Briar said.

“After a few minutes this older lady walked up to me, I was scared, thinking she was gonna tell me to 16 gonatural 237 June 2016

put my boob away, instead she starts cutting up my breakfast for me and said “what a good mama you are, we can’t have your food getting cold can we?”

Whilst there is no specific law in New Zealand that deals with the right to breastfeed, legal protection for the right is available if disadvantageous treatment based on direct or indirect sex discrimination. The most frequent complaints to the Human Rights Commission involve mothers being asked to leave cafes, pre-schools, museums, and other public places while breastfeeding their babies. l

KAY HANNAM

Nudvan Safari the Manawatu

“New Zealanders are increasingly unshackling themselves from Victorian constraints and enjoying the naturist life. Nude is not rude.”

-October 1998

Nudvan is an acronym for Naturists United Driving Vans Anywhere Naturally.

They’re a group of naturists who have a motorhome, campervan, bus, or caravan or just a tent! nudvan.gonatural.co.nz

“All the freedom of running through the wide open spaces up here [Mackenzie, Lake Tekapo] is pretty exhilarating something our overseas participants were especially taken with.” - January 2001

STORY AND PHOTO Bryan & Ruth

“It’s up to your imagination, most people will wear a tartan tie, not much else, and musterers’ boots.”

- January 2003

This year’s February safari started at Waiouru and we trudged off from there to Vinegar Hill to meet the rest.

We were rolling along nicely and just before Taihape a loud bang came from the rear of our bus - we had just had a blowout. Looking at it we saw we could get our fist through the hole in the tyre.

Jan and Steini stopped to give us a hand to change the tyre. Finally we arrived at Vinegar Hill to find most had already arrived. What a lovely place with a lot of different areas to park where we were able to circle our vans to be able to be “in uniform” [naked]. Only a couple of people were shocked as they poked their heads over the screen to say hello.

Some of us went for a walk one morning over the bridge to a quarry to have a look around and have a dip in the swimming hole. After lunch a group of us went swimming closer to the camp. After two nights here, it was time to go.

We headed off towards Feilding and when we got as far as Cheltenham, some went off to Fielding and some took the tourist route up to Apiti and across to Umutoi and then down to Ashhurst.

This was a beautiful drive with a number of Department of Conservation camps down the river.

The best way to take this trip is from Ashhurst as that is where everything is sign posted from. We all had lunch at Ashhurst Domain and left to see the Te Apiti wind farm. What a sight to see 54 wind turbines, generating enough to power 900 homes each. From there we filled up with fuel and emptied our waste tanks while others went shopping, and we eventually all ended up at Ferry Reserve for the night. We found another good parking place where there was a river and some went for a swim. Ruth

“It’s a friendly environment for kids here. It gives them a real idea of what people look like, rather than just leaving it to their imagination.”

- July 2005 “Dutch people feel comfortable with nudity, they don’t have the hang-ups we do.” - December 2007

Quotes had made a bottle of brandy cream which we all shared after dinner. The next morning it was only a short drive through the Manawatu Gorge where we went for a walk. The 4 km walk was a good path amongst lovely bush and a carved steel Maori warrior at the top. For the more adventurous, there is a steep walk to a look out to see the giant slip in

“By removing clothes naturists think more holistically about their bodies, the importance of keeping them healthy. It encourages you to be more comfortable with your body and \take better care of it.” -Nov 2010 the Manawatu Gorge, while others went on the shorter 1km walk. After lunch we all toddled off to Col and Kath’s place just outside Foxton. Our last night there Col fired up the BBQ and we had a lovely evening chatting.

Thanks go out to Christine and John for organizing a very pleasant 2016 Nudvan Safari. l

NUDVAN Safari 2016 gonatural

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Cruising au naturel on the m It was a perfect February summer’s day as a full boat showed the demand for the Wai-natur Naturist annual Nude Adventure cruise on the beautiful Marlborough Sounds, at the top of the South Island.

PHOTOS & STORY Michael Moore

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he sheer joy and exhilaration of cruising naked, at one with undisturbed nature on the Marlborough Sounds, has to be experienced. The Sounds is a collection of ancient sunken river valleys surrounded by the Pacific Ocean with forested hills along staggered coastlines of sheltered inlets and sandy bays.

There’s 50 reserves and several islands within the Sounds and predator-free sanctuaries for native wildlife - it’s a special place to explore. Captain James Cook sailed here in the 1770s and discovered a scurvy plant grass, high in vitamin C that cured scurvy. However the naked passengers were on the hunt for a good dose of Vitamin D. They came from around New Zealand, Australia, UK, Canada, France and USA. Following a stunning cruise, a few hours on a remote beach at Ferndale reserve, bush walks and lazing on the beach, a sumptuous hot cooked lunch was provided, before the cruise back to Havelock and a bus ride back to Wai-natur Naturist Park in the Wairau Valley.

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majestic Marlborough Sounds

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DELEGATES AND NATIONAL EXECUTIVE NEW ZEALAND NATURIST FEDERATION - NATIONAL RALLY, PINEGLADES CHRISTCHURCH January 2016 L-R: Ken Mercer (Wellington), Graham MacGregor, John Bowers (Waikato), N Hans van Asperdt (Internet Co-ordinator), Errol Flynn (Sports Co-ordinator), (President, Free Beaches NZ), Wendy Lowe (President, NZNF), Kay Marsh, T June Campbell-Tong (Secretary, NZNF), Kathy Earby (Treasurer, NZNF), Chris Delwyn Whelan (Christchurch), Wilma Kremer (Southern Free Beaches), Jul 20 gonatural 237 June 2016

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Noel Thomas (gonatural business manager), Nick Lowe (North Island Vice President), Mike Ward Tony Nee (South Island Vice President), stine Bowers (NZ Naturists), lie Haldane (Orchard, Dunedin) gonatural 237 gonatural 237 June June2016 2016 21

OPINION

Nudity and Rudity

After spending some time in a nude sauna in Finland, Kirsty Gordge explores public nudity in New Zealand, asking the big question: Why don’t Kiwis get naked more often? This is her story in her own blunt words.

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oobs: perky, droopy, and wrinkled.

Nipples: dark, pink and small.

Bums: tight, big, and saggy. Hair: thick, black and styled. I saw all this and more when I entered the public sauna in Finland for the first time…

My friend took her clothes off. I had not seen her naked before; I took this as a sign that I was to do the same. I reluctantly removed my swimwear, and self-consciously walked to the showers to rinse. Everyone had been staring at me, and I soon realised it was because I was still wearing my togs. Now that I was naked, no one looked twice. I stood in the showers, no more than a metre away from a naked Asian lady. My friend signaled we were done with the rinsing ritual, and I moved to pick up my towel, not to cover myself, just to bring it into the steam room and sit on it.

We entered and I sat next to a large lady with big nipples. I battled with the desire to simultaneously look and look away, resulting in an awkward ‘hi’ when greeted by her. The steam hid our bodies a little and I tried to relax. We were experiencing a cultural contradiction: I could not understand her comfort with the situation and she could not understand my awkwardness.

22 gonatural 237 June 2016

By the time we got to the dry sauna, I was finally feeling comfortable with my nakedness, and even managed to talk to a stranger. Walking around in shameless nudity became fun, I walked tall and with pride. I could get used to it, I could move to Finland and walk around nude at the sauna complex all the time! I reigned in my imagination as I got carried away thinking about how fantastic the freedom of being in one’s skin was…

Months later, I found that the Otago University Students Association sauna here in Dunedin was completely different.

I felt genuinely uncomfortable in my togs. However, I knew if I suggested we all removed our clothes I would be shot down with glares or sarcastic laughs.

The kiwis I was with were clearly not comfortable with public nudity. I thought back to when I was reluctant to remove my clothes and remembered that my heart was in my mouth for fear of it all being a practical joke aimed at me.

I definitely understood the desire to wear togs… but wanted to spread the feeling of liberation by taking them off!

It became clear to me that the cultural gap between Scandinavia and New Zealand involved more than just language barriers and climate. It involved

our social acceptance of public nudity.

Certain beaches here in the Land of the Long White Cloud allow people to sunbathe nude. Skin-comfortable people are relegated to their own little crook of sand out of the way of the general public. However, in other parts of the world the absence of togs on a beach is welcome. Close to home is Bondi Beach in Australia, where you might find a few stray tits on display, something that might make you double-take. Spain will also have a similar effect; although you might be the odd one out if you don’t remove your layers (don’t forget sunblock - sunburned nipples are not a desirable souvenir).

However, public nudity is not purely reserved for beaches. Topless waitresses earn extra money by presenting their breasts for people to drool into their beer over.

Aimee Burns-Mawson, an Otago student, spent a summer working in the Albion pub in Singleton, New South Wales as a (fully-clothed) waitress. She was surprised when she saw the first shift of topless girls, unaware this was common in Australia and practiced at her new workplace. To start with, she was not

very confident working alongside naked breasts as she “didn’t know where to look or what to do” and at 19 hadn’t really been on the pub scene much. But seeing nipples is something you can get used to, and Aimee’s perception of topless waitressing changed over time.

She talked to the waitresses and learned their names, “which very few people seemed to do.” She discovered that topless waitressing “is about confidence and feeling truly comfortable in your own skin”. Many said it’s a part of who they are. Aimee became so used to it that a nude breast wouldn’t warrant a doubletake now that she is accustomed to seeing women walk around topless.

Most people do get used to all the exposed skin. Someone who is initially quite bothered by people without clothes on in public can adjust over time. It is mainly the rarity of the incidents that make us gasp. Surely if the naked body was the norm, we’d think nothing of it.

Do you avert your eyes when you see your flat mate wrapped in a fluffy towel, breezing into the kitchen to get some clean undies off the airer? Do you feel odd if someone walks into the kitchen in the morning just in a t-shirt and undies?

A Critic Facebook survey indicated that the Otago students who answered were totally okay with (or even very keen for) flat nudity. Some of you cheeky thangs drink milk from the bottle in naught but socks, run to the loo in the night completely starkers, or just stride around freely all hours of the day (though perhaps not when guests are present).

The confines of your own home tends to make nudity okay. But would you ever put the rubbish out with no clothing on your body whatsoever? Would you pop round next door to ask for some milk without stopping to put a t-shirt on first?

Getting naked in public is not actually illegal in New Zealand. This has resulted in some amusing incidents. Because there is no law prohibiting it, the police often go to the Summary Offences Act 1981 and consider: •S27 Obscene/Indecent Exposure—If a person intentionally and obscenely exposes any part of their genitals. The person can be let off if they prove they had reasonable grounds for believing that they would not be observed.

•S4 Offensive Behaviour—If a person behaves in an offensive or disorderly manner in a public place, or acts in a

way intended to threaten, alarm, insult, or offend someone.

•S4 Disorderly Behaviour—when someone behaves, encourages someone else to behave, in a riotous, offensive, threatening, insulting, or disorderly manner that is likely in the circumstances to cause violence against persons or property to start or continue.

In the ‘90s, a man in Whangarei painted the exterior walls of his house with all his tools on display, causing neighbours to call the police. He hadn’t done anything outside of his rights and no legal action was taken. Steven Preister was a childwelfare expert who got nude from the waist down while at a hotel and drunkenly chased four teenage girls back to their room. He pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace with his piece; they couldn’t convict him for having his meat and two veg on show.

rapport with the natural world, equality, liberty, pedagogy, and spirituality. It can lead to a teetotal, vegetarian, or vegan lifestyle. It’s amazing what can happen to your mind if you take your clothes off and let your body rule.

For members, being a naturalist means you are in touch with your nature and self-respect - as well as being comfortable with wearing no clothes for extended periods of time.

“The Orchard Sun” is one such club in Dunedin that celebrates public nudity.

Situated around Middlemarch, the club members meet frequently to enjoy many activities together. These include swims in the “lovely warm Physio pool”, interclub sports including “blind tent erecting” (that must be a euphemism), themed dinners, and a salt-lake picnic.

All activities are performed in the nude.

You might just come across such club

In Timaru last year, a nude cyclist was ticketed by police - not for showing his helmet, but for not wearing his helmet. Acting Senior Sergeant Ian Temple from the Southern District Command Centre here in Dunedin comments that public nudity doesn’t prove a problem for the police in Dunedin, adding that it’s far too cold for people to put their giblets on show.

But still, despite the legality of public nudity in New Zealand, the average person puts clothes on before doing anything remotely public. Like testicles in cold water, most people would shrink away from the idea of their neighbour peering upon their wobbly bits.

“Naturism” is a term used to describe the culture of practising, advocating, and defending public nudity. You can go to naturist facilities around the world, situated at private residences, clubs and resorts, swimming pools and hot springs, and rented facilities.

There are clubs you can join in order to meet with other people and share the sensation of being naked in public, and they’re not necessarily all about orgies.

Naturism is also associated with a healthy lifestyle, ecological or environmental

nakedly venturing through the quiet bush of Dunedin.

When one makes their way down a tricky path to the shores of a nude beach, it’s safe to assume they were seeking it out.

However, when nudity is sprung upon you like a topless waitress at a bar you’ve never been to before, or your neighbour enjoying a bit of sun on his bollocks while he paints the house, you might be a little more uncomfortable.

Public nudity is not illegal in New Zealand, but it’s certainly not socially acceptable.

Why? It’s not like we haven’t seen it all before! l • Kirsty Gordge is a senior student at Otago Universtity gonatural

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SPORTS

From protests to freedom for naked bike riders across NZ The annual World Naked Bike Ride was again held in Takaka, along with a smaller group in Otago.

PHOTOS & STORY Roger Watkin, Brent Anderson, Bryan Badger, Jeremy Kelleher, Shin Yee, Wilma Kremer, Brent Patterson.

M

arch welcomes one of the most anticipated events of the summer when the beautiful Golden Bay town of Takaka, known for its alternative bent and welcome to visitors, becomes the perfect venue for the naturist cyclists descending onto its beach roads.

It started with a body painting session for those inclined – no body parts were spared in this frenzy of artistic fun at Tarakohe harbour, with new artists born.

This year around 70 naked cyclists joined in for the event as riders set off with the aims to promote bicycle transportation, renewable energy, recreation, walkable communities and environmentally responsible and sustainable solutions to living in the 21st century. Just powered by the sun, toots and cheers of the bystanders, this noisy train of happy protesters ventured to the western end gonatural237 237June June2016 2016 24 gonatural

of Pohara, Takaka’s most popular beach, for a half-time swim in the warm Golden Bay sea. With refreshed energy the riders set to return to Tarakohe, passing yet more cheering patrons of the trendy cafés, clapping beach goers, and car passengers trying to keep their cameras in focus.

Organiser Nick Lowe, our world famous naked cyclist and organiser, who had just cycled 6 hours over the Takaka hill from Nelson airport, presented prizes to the artist’s subjects and the big distance travellers. Cantabrians couldn’t compete with all the North Islanders, Asians, Canadians, Europeans and others wanting a part of a Kiwi culture experience.

Paul at Gazebo backpackers in Takaka sponsored the event and welcomed everyone back for a hose down, bbq and spa. The Takaka locals embrace this wonderful community event. Gazebo is truly clothing optional with some people fully nude, some fully clothed & others inbetween, but no-one caring.

By the 3pm start, there was a large group of around 70 nude cyclists, partially clothed cyclists, supporters and spectators. There was Lisa and Vern with their 4-seater cycling machine and a topless girl on a unicycle. The scenic coastline to Pohara is spectacular on the fringe of Abel Tasman National Park. The full ride is only about 4kms. After the ride was over no-one seemed to be in a hurry to put clothes on. There were groups standing around or sitting on the grass chatting and some went for another swim. A bush walk and a sauna spa excursion was also organised for the bikers. Next year’s Takaka event Saturday 4th March, 2016.

In Otago, Southern Free Beach members rode from Waitati to Doctors Point clad only in helmets and the odd splash of paint. It was the seventh time the group had participated in the annual ride, supported by Kowhai Heights. They enjoyed the event and finished the 3km ride with a walk along the beach and lunch.

World Naked Bike Ride 2016

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237 June 2016 25

World Naked Bike Ride 2016

26 gonatural 237 June 2016

WOMEN

Renewing women a success STORY Donna Miller PHOTOS June Campbell-Tong From early evening on Friday 18th March, ladies from all around the North Island began to arrive at the grounds of Waikato Outdoor Society on the western outskirts of Hamilton.

Some arrived alone, and some came with friends. All came to have a much deserved break from the daily demands of their lives to replenish, refresh and rejuvenate their minds, bodies and souls.

The Renew Women’s Retreat Weekend at Waikato Outdoor Society provided the exact avenue to do that.

From pampering to nourishing, Carrie Grason and her team of ladies from Waikato Outdoor Society thought of everything. The first treat organised was a welcome cocktail and mix and mingle poolside followed by a light dinner. All the ladies watched a great chick flick Julie & Julia - on the large screen while eating delicious buttered popcorn.

After a restful sleep, some got up for the early session of yoga at 7am. What a wonderful way to start the day with Mary Watson, a professional yoga instructor from Wellington. Mary ensured the session was suitable for all levels of yoga experience and even for those with none.

Following breakfast, forms with each treatment being provided - manicure, pedicure, massage, facials and even a professional photo shoot - were displayed to put their name against time slots and co-ordinate a full day of blissful treats.

The treatment providers, most of whom were professionals, gave freely of their own time in support of this wonderful women’s event. At any one time during the day, six women were receiving pampering of some kind meaning the providers worked extremely long and hard.

During the day, another two yoga sessions were held each with a slightly different style and level of expertise.

A very tasty and wonderful dinner was enjoyed with companionship.

The evening entertainment was a quiz created by Carrie with the questions all being about women throughout the ages and things women are interested in.

Some of the questions were easy while others really stretched the brain and were quite challenging.

Mary led a late evening Yoga Nidra session which took those who participated into a fully relaxed “going-to-sleep” stage.

After breakfast on the Sunday morning, more treatments and pampering were

available before the women started packing up and heading home after lunchtime.

About a third of the ladies that attended the event had never been to a naturist club before. Some even arrived at the event not realising the venue was a naturist club but decided to stay on once they found out. Most of the treatment providers were not naturists.

All who attended the retreat made special connections and experienced something significant that they will treasure for a long time. Several mentioned that even though the concept of naturism had never occurred to them previously, they were considering visiting their local naturist club and finding out more about the lifestyle.

Carrie and her team of helpers ought to be sincerely congratulated for providing an incredible event for naturist women, and especially for reaching out to ladies in the non-naturist community. The male members of Waikato Outdoor Society who helped with preparations but were excluded from the club for 48 hours during the event also need to be thanked and appreciated.

Carrie and her team are already talking about holding another women’s event next year. The whole naturist community appreciate the immense efforts, patience and sacrifice required over several months to bring an event such as the Renew Women’s Weekend together.

Heartfelt thanks to Carrie and the amazing team at Waikato Outdoor Society. l

gonatural

237 June 2016 27

WORLD CONGRESS

World Congress marks important New Zealand milestone The International Naturist Federation is coming to Wellington this November, only the second time the annual meeting has been hosted in the Southern hemisphere, and there’s plenty to see in our backyard.

STORY & PHOTOS Patrick Fotheringham & Brent Anderson

W

ith the 2016 International Congress of Naturism approaching it was time for a trial run of one of the proposed outdoor walks for the non-delegate excursion.

The Kaitoke Ridge Track starts at Te Marua and ends at Pakuratahi Forks, with a bit of an up and a down in between.

Only two of us showed up, but that was enough to put a car at each end.

had a good view too but the regenerating bush all around was reaching for the sky.

I ended up missing out on both the view and a rest as we carried on upwards. The track soon levelled off and we stopped for a refreshing drink at the top of the ridge. The nature of the bush varies along the track between regenerating scrub at the start to good stands of beech in sheltered spots. Parts of the ridge top are exposed to strong winds from all directions, making all the small trees the same height, none daring to grow taller than their neighbours for fear

of catching more of the winter winds.

Today however was a good clear day with a gentle breeze.

Travelling on the ridge top was good with a gentle climb and after reaching a local high point, we shortly afterward turned off on a side track to a lookout. This time the seat had a view over the upper part of the Hutt Valley with the hills around Wellington visible in the distance, the short rest was good too. We could also see the scorched hillside from the recent fire not far from the club grounds.

We started walking from the Te Marua end. The first part is an easy walk over a grassy field and then on to a foot track that climbed gently into the bush. It got steeper, then a little steeper, then started to zig and zag. I soon lost track of whether we were zigging or zagging on any given straight bit, but it was a whole lot easier than just ploughing straight up the slope.

We passed a seat that looked good for a bit of repose. It may previously have 28 gonatural 237, June 2016

Majestic views over Hutt City and Wellington in the distance

There was more good travel with increasing amounts of forest and a while later another lookout. This time the view was into bush clad tributaries of the Hutt River. It felt like we were in some remote place rather than just a short walk away from the main road.

It was a long downhill run (walk) to Pakuratahi forks. We eventually started to hear sounds from other people out enjoying the day. Our descent ended at ‘Rivendell’, a short distance from the carpark. This is a popular spot for picnics, the occasional wedding and reading about parts of Lord of the Rings filmed here.

The Congress version of the Ridge Track walk will happen at a much more relaxed pace than ours. More importantly, we gained knowledge of the places of interest and the travel times in between.

Incidentally, we met nobody else on the track. l

The beautiful Kaitoke Ridge Track, ends at ‘Rivendell’, site from Lord of the Rings.

Come to New Zealand for the

35TH WORLD CONGRESS OF NATURISM 16 - 20 NOVEMBER 2016 Te Marua, Wellington, New Zealand To register www.congress.nznf.nz or email congress@nznf.nz

gonatural

237, June 2016

29

DUNEDIN

around

Bert, Marie, Alex, Keith, Julie at Orchard Naturist Club’s swim night at Dunedin’s Physio Pool.

SPAIN CHRISTCHURCH

Noel enjoying the beach on the Costa del Sol To escape the Kiwi winter, gonatural business manager Noel Thomas and his partner Shona, spent a few weeks in Portugal and Spain.

They stayed on the Costa del Sol just outside of Estepona. The naturist resort has 200 apartments with everything you want for an unforgettable naturist holiday, with a restaurant with sea views. With whitewashed buildings and the flower gardens, it feels like a real Mediterranean resort.

When the heat hazes over the sea lifted, we had a spectacular view of Gibraltar and on a clear day, you can see Africa beyond. The beach in the front of the resort was always busy with a mix of people. Our favourite place for lunch was the pool side restaurant where for about 15 Euro you could have a selection of tapas plates and a cold beer or wine to wash it down.

Gibraltar and the lovely town of Estepona are just down the road. Some day trips only run on set days of the week, so it pays to book. Our bus for Gibraltar picked us up just outside the gate. If you are thinking of visiting the south of Spain this is one place I can recommend, and get a rental car, or you can transfers from either Malaga or Gibraltar airport.

AUCKLAND

Lady Donna and Dame Audrey in the Corporate Box 30 gonatural 237 June 2016

Pineglades Life Member Ralph Riccalton is congratulated by club president Terry Burkett after a game on Miniten

Southern Free Beaches joined 150 others in the Great Annual Nude Homer Tunnel Run which isn’t entirely naked because you are allowed to wear running shoes and a head torch. It takes place along the length of the world-famous Homer Tunnel that connects Te Anau to Milford Sound through the mountains.

The tunnel was laboriously dug out by labourers between 1935 and 1953 is 1.2 km long. Competitors run from east to west (towards Milford Sound) and the fastest woman is rewarded with a naked statue of Barbie, and the fastest man with a naked statue of Ken. Organisers say “being naked is invigorating, natural and beautiful; non-perverse, and a great way to make new friends and something we should all do more often.”

The race was originally conceived in 1998 by a couple of locals over a beer and now attracts around 100 participants. There’s an entry fee which gets donated to charity.

Ernie, Wilma, Martin, Gail, Bre

history

PHOTO OF THE MONTH Send your photos to editor@gonatural.co.nz

1895

Naked Maori boys bathing. Photo by William Henry Jackson

1930

WELLINGTON Club president Ken Mercer, cuts the ribbon at the official opening the club’s new shower block.

MILFORD SOUND

ent, Phil and Steve, about to run through the Homer Tunnel.

Sunbathing or swimming naked in public was illegal in the 1930s when the nudist movement began in New Zealand.

Though some people indulged covertly in these activities, nudists sought to establish clubs where they could legally be naked in private. In 1933 Eric Flint made the first public attempt to set up a nudist club in Dunedin. Media coverage incited a barrage of hostility from clergy and women’s groups, as well as suspicion from the police.

Flint gave up and departed for Auckland. A club called the Auckland Sun Group, formed in January 1938, went into recess during the Second World War because restrictions on gasoline hindered travel to places out of town. Another club was set up in Dunedin in early 1938.

1940 In the early 1940s Bert Brittain bought the property that would become the club grounds for the Auckland Sun Group, a 1.6-hectare piece of bush with a stream running through it in the Waitākere Ranges, near Auckland.

Other clubs were set up. Once groups had purchased a piece of land, club members contributed much time to clearing gorse and blackberry. They flattened out areas for tent sites, sunbathing and ball games. Digging out swimming pools and building clubhouses were major projects. The basic camping facilities in the early years did not prevent the many children and their parents enjoying themselves, both working and relaxing afterwards.

1950 In 1953 the first national rally of the New Zealand Sunbathing Association was held in Whanganui. It was attended by 38 adults and 19 children from eight areas.

From the mid-1950s club members began to use the term naturism rather than nudism, in an attempt to make the movement more publicly acceptable. By the 1970s naturism was no longer seen as shocking by most New Zealanders. Numbers of naturists reached a high point during the 1980s. gonatural

237 June 2016 31

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Put yourself in the picture

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237 June 2016 39

Directory NORTH ISLAND NORTHLAND Waitata Bay

Bay of Islands 09 403 8586 waitatabay@waitatabay.co.nz waitatabay.co.nz

AUCKLAND Hibiscus Coast Sun Club PO Box 128, Orewa 0946. 09 427 6484, 027 1357545 www.aucklandnaturist.co.nz Auckland Outdoor Naturist Club PO Box 95235, Swanson, Waitakere 0653

09 833 9209 www.aonc.org.nz Auckland Sun Club

PO Box 20257, Glen Eden, Auckland 0641 09 814 9973 asc@gonatural.co.nz asc.gonatural.co.nz

Counties Sun Club

112 Ramarama Road, Ramarama, Drury RD3, Auckland 2579 027 296 2795 counties@gonatural.co.nz countiessunclub.com

WAIKATO / BOP

Waikato Outdoor Society Inc. PO Box 619, Hamilton 3240 027 631 6883 waikato.outdoor@gonatural.co.nz waikato.gonatural.co.nz

Katikati Naturist Park

149 Wharawhara Road, RD2, Katikati, 3178 0800 4 567 567 katikati-naturist-park.co.nz

Bay of Plenty Sun Club Inc.

PO Box 838, Whakatane, 3120. 027 440 5157 bopsc@gonatural.co.nz bopsun.gonatural.co.nz

CENTRAL Rotota Sun Club Inc.

PO Box 1164, Taupo 3351 07 333 7105 rototasunclub@gonatural.co.nz rotota.gonatural.co.nz

Taranaki Naturists Club

297 Brown Rd, RD42, Waitara, 4382 06 754 4658 027 444 2941 taranaki.naturists.club@gonatural.co.nz taranakinaturistsnz.com

Hawkes Bay Naturist Club

PO Box 551, Napier, 4140. 027 450 0557 HBNC@gonatural.co.nz hawkesbay.gonatural.co.nz

Manawatu Naturist Club Inc.

PO Box 980, Palmerston North, 4440 027 390 4428 pro@mannatclub.com www.manawatunaturistclub.co.nz

Wellington Naturist Club

PO Box 2854, Wellington 6140. 04 526 7853, Mob: 027 3306 212 secretary@wellingtonnaturists.co.nz wellingtonnaturists.co.nz

SOUTH ISLAND NELSON / MARLBOROUGH Nelson Sun Club

PO Box 33, Upper Moutere, Nelson 7144 027 710 8025 sunrise@nelsonnaturally.co.nz www.nelsonnaturally.co.nz

Wai-natur Naturist Park

2704 State Highway 63, Wairau Valley, RD1 Blenheim 7271 03 5722 681, 021 326 199 info@naturist.co.nz naturist.nz

CANTERBURY Pineglades Naturist Club 135 Brookside Rd, Rolleston PO Box 1823, Christchurch, 8140. 021 052 2528 pineglades@gonatural.co.nz pineglades.gonatural.co.nz South Canterbury Sun Club

PO Box 13, Geraldine 7956. 021 123 5904 scsc@gonatural.co.nz scsc.gonatural.co.nz

OTAGO / SOUTHLAND Orchard Sun Club Inc.

PO Box 5460, Dunedin 9058 027 6178 412 orchard@gonatural.co.nz orchard.gonatural.co.nz

Alpine Lakes Naturist Club

PO Box 18, Clyde, Central Otago, 9341 02 66031439 alpinelakes@gonatural.co.nz alpinelakes.gonatural.co.nz

Southern Naturally

1821 Tuatapere Orepuki Highway, Tuatapere 9620 027 6717520 southernnaturally@gonatural.co.nz southernsun.gonatural.co.nz

NEW ZEALAND

NZ Naturist Federation Registered Office, PO Box 15065, New Lynn, Auckland, New Zealand 0640 President Wendy Lowe 027 363 0407 nznf.pres@gonatural.co.nz Secretary June Campbell-Tong 04 2347 918 nznf.sec@gonatural.co.nz Communications info@gonatural.co.nz Free Beaches NZ

PO Box 20-295, Bishopdale, Christchurch 8543 06 879 9262, 03 310 6447 fredbear@freebeaches.org.nz freebeaches.org.nz

NZ NUDVAN Club

PO Box 619, Hamilton 3240 nudvan@gonatural.co.nz nudvan.gonatural.co.nz

Leisure Theme

NZ Tour Planning +61 3 98998676 david@leisuretheme.com www.leisuretheme.co.nz

New Zealand Naturists PO Box 619, Waikato Mail Centre, Hamilton 3240 021 043 8218

nznaturists@gonatural.co.nz www.gonatural.co.nz

40 gonatural 237 June 2016

what’s on

2016 JUNE

11th 18th 19th

25th

Hawkes Bay Club, Pot luck dinner, darts,pool Free Beach Polar Plunge. Ladies Bay, Auckland 10am Free Beach Polar Plunge, Peka Peka Beach, Wgtn 3pm Free Beach Polar Plunge, Sth Brighton Beach, Chch 2pm Free Beach Polar Plunge, Warrington, Dunedin 11am Nude Blacks rugby, Dunedin Alpine Lakes Club, Abbotsford “Couples Night”

JULY 9th 16th 30th

Mid-winter Christmas dinner, Hawkes Bay Alpine Lakes Club, a Spa evening, Arrowtown Wellington Club, Italian Dinner 6pm

AUGUST 31st

International Photo competition. Entries must be in.

SEPTEMBER 10th

Dinner, pool and darts competition, Hawkes Bay Naturist Club

NOVEMBER 16th-20th 35th World Congress of Naturism,

Wellington Naturist Club DECEMBER 10th

Auckland Outdoor Naturist Club Nude Bingo in the club house Every second Wednesday night Pineglades Naturist Club Chow and Chatter Last Thursday of each month Taranaki Naturist Club Fish and chip night Every Friday at the club Orchard Sun Club Pool swim nights. 2nd & 4th Sundays, 5pm Joyce 03 476 3875

Christmas party dinner, Hawkes Bay

28th Dec - NZNF Naturist Festival / National Rally 3rd Jan 2017 N u d e O r l e a n s , Auckland Outdoor Naturist Club

Parakai Springs Naturist Days 1st & 3rd Friday monthly 10am-10pm. Book 021 202 6512 or email rickdowling@ihug.co.nz

International photo competition

Photographers are invited to enter the International Photographic Competition being held in conjunction with the 2016 International Congress of Naturism in Wellington. The theme is “health and wellbeing.” $20 to enter up to 3 images and $30 to include an additional 2 images must depict naturism as non-sexual social nudity. The competition runs

regular events

until August 31st 2016.Registration and full details congress.nznf.nz PRIZE A fabulous four night stay for two at New Zealand’s prestigious ‘Waitata Bay Naturist Retreat’ in the Bay of Islands, Northland. You can relax in luxurious accommodation, enjoy the freedom of the sand and blue waters on your own private beach. We thank Waitata Bay for generously donating the prize.

Waitata Bay Naturist Retreat, Bay of Islands

Auckland Sun Club Sunday Saunas and Potluck meal Contact 09 814 9973 Waikato Outdoor Society 6pm BYO BBQ, 1st & 3rd Wednesday monthly.

Wellington Naturist Club April-Sept: Spa, Sauna and massage second Sunday of the month 2-5pm. Catered dinner last Saturday of the month during winter.

Free Beaches New Zealand Wellington - Spa night 1st & Summer events 1st Sunday, Breaker Bay; and 3rd Sunday at Peka Peka Beach linda.geeves@slingshot.co.nz Canterbury - Regular summer beach and outdoor events.

Swim nights at Burwood from 19th March 2016, every 1st & 3rd Saturday monthly till November.

Corey@myhome.kiwi.nz

waitatabay.co.nz

l ALL EVENTS LISTED HERE

gonatural 237 June 2016 gonatural.co.nz/locations-events

NEW ZEALAND

gonatural 237 June 2016