Speaking of summertime and being by the water . . .
The Auckland Outdoor Naturist Club in Swanson, West Auckland, put out a call for new members last month. Apparently, most of the club’s members — which number about 250 — are over 40, and they would like to see more young people join. It’s something many naturist clubs — whether landed or not — can relate to, I think.
A report on the stuff.co.nz site says the club once had as many as 850 members. Today’s members are “made up of a mixture of permanent residents, holidaymakers and day visitors” and come from around the world.
Hmm . . . Looking outside my bedroom window at the fresh snow that fell last night, the Auckland club sure is enticing. It’s located on 26 acres of “bush” and “members can make the most of facilities including a salt water pool, spas, mini-golf course, bush walks, and take parts in events such as sports days and even nude bingo.”
Oh, and they have dress-up events, too.
Says Don Broughman, one of the club’s caretakers: “Being a naturist community you think of everyone being naked all the time but we have dress-up events where everyone gets really into it. There’s all kinds of characters here. It’s the friendliest place you’ll ever be. There’s no pretense. There’s a saying that the first lie you tell is the clothes you wear – take those away, it’s just you.”
Amen to that last sentence.
The report says the club is one of some 20 naturist clubs and residence on the island — which, you know, sounds like the kind of island I would like to be stranded on during a Quebec winter.
Or maybe all the time.
New Zealand is reportedly renowned for its clothing-optional beaches.
Reports a site called Nude Beaches New Zealand, which features a comprehensive guide: “A number of New Zealand beaches have been frequented over the years by naturists and skinny dippers and have customary nude status and as such will not attract undue attention from the prudish or nude averse community. Also because New Zealand has no laws directly forbidding public nudity, those of us who wish to bath nude on our beaches are free to do so if we show respect and are discrete and mindful of others when swimming or bathing naturally (see our guidelines page).”
— Jillian
Jillian Page 
Getting younger singles, couples and families is hot topic at our resort as well. The old ways of doing things simply do not work for the younger generations. We are exploring many and new ideas to attract them. Changing the mindset of the older members ad residents is part of the issue. For these facilities to survive the influx is key.
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Our group — which is not a landed club, but rents various facilities for swim events and such — seems to have a fair number of young people. So the organizers must be doing something right.
We’ll make this the subject of another post . . .
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I would really love to vacation in New Zealand someday. That sounds like a good club to visit as well as the beaches. With more nude-friendly laws and tolerance of public nudity and nude beaches, the trend may be to “free-range” nudity and decreased landed club membership. That may be especially true for the young people.
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I agree. If I lived in New Zealand with its many beaches and no snow to worry about, I’d be spending a lot of time on the beaches. Still, it is nice to socialize in group settings, too.
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ALOHA…. HAU’OLI MAKAHIKI HOU/HAPPY NEW YEAR…. in my travels, i visited 50 countries on 5 continents, all 50 state of the u.s. of a., plus all 10 providences and 2 territories of canada, and my favorite country was N.Z/Aotearoa….. expecially the northern part of the south island… there is plenty of snow in the south of the south island, especially in and around the fjords …… as the financial situation affects younger individuals, they have less money to spend on exclusive clubs, no matter what the group….. sadly, there is still no legal nude nor clothing optional beach on maui or in hawai’i; the uptight local feelings against pubic hair… perhaps that is why many young people now shave……. aloha from the north shore of maui…..
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Gee, you would think that Hawaii would have some clothing-optional beaches!
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ALOHA JILLIAN:…. yes, one would think; however, lots of christian and local opposition whenever discussed…. there are a few on maui and even more on the big island and on kauai which are not “legal”; mostly ignored yet still illegal!!!!
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Well, how about starting a lobby to get some spaces for naturists?
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i have brought it up numerous times in various meetings when appropriate; i have stood for our local county government six times and will be seeking a state house of representative seat this year…. it is not a “major” issue here; at the famous “little beach”, whenever i suggested we need to petition and do various other items to request a legal “clothing-optional” beach recognition, most people just said not important nor necessary because now that it is part of a state park, the rangers rarely bother anyone for nudity….. just the way it is….. in the u.s. of a. people have a right to possess military weapons with large capacity magazines, yet can not show pubic hair in public!!… we have our priorities in order … in fact in texas, they just adopted a law which allows people to wear a holster with a weapon!!…. we don’t even have a single-payer health care system!!!….. alooooooooooooooooooooooooHA and HAU’OLI MAKAHIKI HOU……
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A strange world we live in sometimes, eh?
Cheers
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ALOHA JILLIAN….. ’tis not “strange”; it is the only one we currently have….. it is a matter of perception….. the grateful dead say: “… believe it if you need it; if you don’t just pass it on….” …. there are magical moments during this sojourn …. a place where some have so/too much and others are suffering… the u.s. of a. spends over half of their/our budget on weaponry to destroy, kill, maim other human beings…. and so so many around the world are in desperate need of healthy food, water, sanitation and housing….. aummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm……
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A resort I’ve visited a number of times, like most resorts is seeing it’s membership age and not be replaced by new younger members. As one man lamented after a young couple of visitors left the pool area, when he joined, in his 20’s, most members were his age too, and now, 30 years later, most members are also his age.
Of course, as the membership of such resorts age, they desire more amenities such as hot tubs, saunas, tennis courts, dance floors with sound systems, etc. which all drive up the expense. I’m not sure the added expense has all that much to do with younger people staying away, (this particular resort’s day rate for visitors is less than many at around $40.) But, I do imagine when this place, and other such resorts, first opened they were much more spartan in facilities, rather it was a place on a mountainside where people could feel free and surrounded by nature in peace without clothes.
I agree with the comments that people who live in places where nudity is not illegal may not find resorts so appealing. Just to the south of Quebec there is Vermont with no state laws prohibiting public nudity, (differentiating nudity and lewdness, which is illegal.) There are a couple of small resorts, one has been there for decades. You won’t find the beaches at lakes or rivers over-run with nude people, but there are areas which are well-known for skinny-dipping. People are respectful, mostly, and everyone co-exists fairly well. I have to wonder if other states were to just eliminate anti-nudity laws, after the initial period of perhaps a few months of excitement, would they see all that many really making that much of it all?
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Nice comments, Scott. I agree: if more states were to eliminate anti-nudity laws, everyone would probably get along just fine — as long as the appropriate signs are posted.
As for getting young people to join naturist groups, it’s a subject I will tackle in a post soon. We’ll get input from many people. I think there are ways to attract more younger people. Later on that . . .
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I should also say, NZ is a wonderful place with just lovely people, very friendly. So many similarities with Canada, but condensed into a MUCH easier to navigate area. When I was there, it wasn’t a good season for outdoor nude activities, but what a terrific place it would be! Such gorgeous scenery to enjoy while feeling even closer to nature.
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It sounds so lovely.
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And following a friends experience nude hiking isn’t actually illegal there. Though some common sense is required.
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