NZ · Report by Milt (USA): Nude Zealand [17 May 2019]

Hello friends,

I’ve been meaning for weeks to put together a brief report for you about Dan, John, Rainer and Milt’s Excellent Adventure looking for naturist opportunities in New Zealand.  I would have to rate our efforts a grand success.  We were nude more often than we might have reasonably expected.

Te Anau: Mistake Creek (walkwire) | 1

After Dan, John and Rainer arrived in Auckland early in February, we soon flew down to the South Island, where the Southern Alps in Fiordland National Park are famous for stunning scenery.  Our first day out from our base at Te Anau, we crossed a river on a walk wire, a kind of minimalist suspension bridge, guaranteed to keep the average out-of-shape textile tourist away.  Later we hiked nude up a stream looking for an elusive waterfall.  All in all a good start.

The next day was cool and rainy, but we climbed up to a gorgeous alpine lake in a hanging valley and went for a skinny dip in its chilly waters.

On the third day we made a special arrangement with a water taxi to take us across a river to a beautiful circuit hike to a high lookout.  Our special arrangement gave us an hour’s head start over others who came on the regular ferry schedule, so we were able to do essentially the whole circuit nude.  Late in the day we managed a skinny-dip in nearby Lake Manapouri.  And since it was late in the day, we walked nude back to the car along part of the famous Kepler Track (one of New Zealand’s “Great Walks”) while running into very few late walkers.

On the fourth day we took the textile boat tour of Milford Sound in the morning, but in the afternoon we climbed up to Key Summit east of the Sound, and then had a great nude adventure following the ridge to the south of the Summit.  The weird “Hobbit trees” of the patchy forest and the expansive views of several alpine lakes made that one of the most memorable of our excursions.  Once again, thanks to our late-in-the-day timing, we (or at least the less cold-averse among us) were able to hike nude back to the car following part of another of the “Great Walks”, this one the Routeburn Track.

The following day, as we relocated further north, John and Dan got in a good skinny dip in giant Lake Wakatipu.

After touring the beautiful botanical gardens in Queenstown and watching the famous jet boats speeding up and down the Shooter River, we headed west along another arm of Lake Wakatipu toward Glenorchy.

;We stopped off at a small stream and climbed nude through the bush to a hidden waterfall for another skinny-dip.

On the advice of our AirBnB hosts in Glenorchy, we went on day six to the ruins of an old gold-mining operation called the Invincible Mine on the mountainside overlooking the Rees River.  The mine and a nearby stream were our nude playground for the whole day.

Glenorchy: Routeburn Track to side trail to Key Summit | 1

Wanaka: Invincible Mine Track | 1

On day seven we moved further north again to the Wanaka area. On the way we stopped at the birthplace of commercial bungee-jumping, at the bridge over the Kawarau River north of Queenstown.  Fun to watch people throwing themselves into the chasm below.

On day eight we joined the textile crowds to see the thousand-foot-high waterfalls streaming off the Rob Roy Glacier.  But on the way back we stopped a few kilometers away at a tall waterfall tumbling into a pool at the back of a sheep field, and enjoyed another skinny-dip.

On day nine we hiked nude all around the ruins of the Bendigo Gold Mine on the mountainside overlooking the Clutha River Valley.  The next day we had to head back to the airport at Queenstown to fly to the North Island for the second stage of the Nude Zealand Adventure.

After a memorable experience on the South Island, Dan, John, Rainer and I flew back to the North Island to continue our quest for naturist opportunities in New Zealand.

Our first stop was the beach and surfer community of Raglan.  On Day One, after checking out nearby Bridal Veil Falls, we went to the south end of long and gorgeous Ruapuke Beach, a black sand beach backed by dunes and cliffs.  Some professional dog walkers beat us there, but the beach was so big near low tide that we could walk nude without offending anyone.  We rounded a headland and enjoyed the sun, the surf and the rocks over lunch time.  The only downer was that the little waterfall dropping directly onto the beach, into which Dan naturally threw himself immediately, smelled bad, thanks to the cow pastures on the bluffs above.

Our route then took us north across the flanks of Mt. Karioi, an extinct volcano that tumbles steeply into the sea.  We did a nude hike part way up to the summit of the mountain, to where we had dramatic and sweeping views of the ocean and coastline.

Continuing around the mountain, we went to Ngarunui Beach, which naturists reportedly sometimes share with textiles.  A long and broad and sandy beach, it easily accommodated our nudity along with the numerous late-afternoon textile dog-walkers.  We ended up back at Raglan.

Raglan: Ruapuke Beach | 1

Waitomo and Ohakune: Piripiri Cave Walk | 1

On Day Two, as we relocated with Waitomo as our destination, we stopped first at Taharoa, another broad, empty black sand beach, perfect for nude exploration.  We had to keep clothes on for the subsequent visit to Marokopa Falls, but we were alone in the Piripiri Cave further up the road and could explore it nude as far as the ambient light allowed.  The last stop before Waitomo, the Mangapohue Natural Bridge, had too many textiles around, but we befriended one of them and introduced him (verbally at least) to the concept of nude hiking.

On Day Three, we had tickets for the “Black Labyrinth Tour” of Ruakuri Cave, a three-hour expedition that saw three of us don wetsuits and grab inner tubes to float through the cave marveling at the glow-worms lighting up the ceiling.  I was naked under my wetsuit… but glad to have the warmth.  (Rainer meanwhile took a private tour of the drier parts of the cave with two guides.) For the afternoon we did a nude hike down a forested trail to dramatic Omaru Falls.

On Day Four, we moved again, to the southernmost of our destinations on the North Island, at Ohakune.  En route, we visited a pair of waterfalls (Tawhai and Taranaki) on the west side of volcanic Mt Ruapehu, the tallest mountain on the North Island.  Though there were numerous textiles coming and going, Dan managed a brief skinny dip in the beautiful clear pool at the bottom of each cascade.

Day Five dawned cold, windy and rainy, so our plan to hike up the southern slopes of Mt Ruapehu had to be scotched, but not before Dan (and John?) had a brief but chilling nude hike in the howling winds.  Further downhill, we were sheltered from the wind enough to visit Mangawhero Falls (with clothes as it is right by the road) and 128-feet-high Waitonga Falls (where Dan and John both braved the cold waters to take a skinny dip).  Dan walked much of the 45 minutes back to the car nude.

Day Six found us in Rotorua, like Yellowstone famous for its boiling lakes and bubbling mud pots.  Too many tourists for nudity.

It was a different story on Day Seven, however, as we sought out the geothermally-heated streams, waterfalls and pools south of the town.  We thought that nudity would not work at the first stop, called Kerosene Creek, when we saw a giant tour bus in the parking area, but Dan boldly requested permission from the occupants of the main pool and soon we all stripped off.  Not far away we found the trailhead for Rainbow Mountain, and had a great nude hike both up and down (a 7 KM roundtrip), having to stay dressed only at the summit where textile tourists were lingering.

Late in the afternoon we made our way to a “secret” hot waterfall, and again got agreement from the few people who were already there that we could use it nude.  Next on the list of the “hot water crawl” of Day Seven was the unique Hot ’n’ Cold Pool (AKA the Bridge), where a hot creek joins a slightly larger cold one, and you can choose your temperature as the waters mix.  There were more than a dozen tourists in the water already, but Dan again sought and received agreement so off came the clothes.  We capped off the day with a visit to a community-run hot pool, where agreement for nude use (“as long as there are no children here”) was again forthcoming from the four locals already in the pool.

Rotorua: Kerosene Creek | 1

Katikati: Kaiate Scenic Reserve | 1
Rerekawau Falls

After departing the geothermal wonderland of Rotorua, the intrepid naturist adventurers drove north and checked in at the Katikati Naturist Resort.  It was interesting to note that the sign on the main road unabashedly announced the direction to the naturist campground.  What we found was a pleasant but rather quiet establishment with a nice hot tub and a comfortable rental cabin that could accommodate all four of us, thanks to an inflatable bed provided by the management. We met a few other naturists in the hot tub or on the grounds.

That evening we drove about 40 minutes back toward the south to join some 25 members of the Bay of Plenty Naturists (a nonlanded¹ traveling group) for their monthly soak in a large hot pool.  The entry fee of just NZD 30 included a tasty dinner with a couple of choices for each course.  We met quite a few members of the friendly group, including Graham (who had corresponded with John via the Free Range Naturism site) and Glenne, the organizer of the large and active group.  Much of the discussion was about their plan, a week later, to begin a month-long naturist-oriented camper-van tour of the northern reaches of the North Island.  They had 19 camper vans signed up to participate, which I found quite impressive for a small island country.

The next day we drove northwest about 1 hour from Katikati to the Karangahake Gorge.  Karangahake was another of the gold rush towns that sprang up in the late 19^th Century, only to collapse when the gold ran out.  I was knocked out by a bad cold, so I mostly stayed in the car while John, Dan and Rainer explored the ruins of the gold mining and refining operations.  There were dozens of tourists in the central area, but once the guys struck out on the trail up the gorge and away from the historic area, they were able to strip and enjoy the hike much more.

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¹ Naturist/nudist groups generally fall into two categories:  the clubs who have a resort or plot of land where they are free to be nude, and the clubs (called traveling clubs or groups) who do not have their own land, but travel to visit nudist resorts or beaches or to go freehiking somewhere on public lands.  “Bay of Plenty Naturists” is the latter kind of group because they do not have their own land (i.e. non-landed).

Recovering from an overnight fever, I stayed at Katikati the following day, but Dan, John and Rainer did a nude hike on a little-used trail to some of the giant Kauri trees.  These giants, related to the araucaria trees of Brazil and the extremely rare Wollemi Pine of Australia, have origins dating back to the Gondwana supercontinent.  They were logged almost to extinction by the European settlers in NZ, but now are mainly threatened by a fungus called Kauri Dieback Disease that attacks their roots.  To visit an area with Kauri trees, one has to clean and spray footwear to avoid spreading the fungus.  But they are impressive trees, making it worth the effort.

Well enough to resume activities, the next day I joined as we hiked nude to visit another stand of giant Kauri trees.  Our next stop was Kaiate Falls, in the hills overlooking the coastal city of Tauranga.  There were cars in the parking area, so we started the hike clothed, but lost the togs by the time we stopped for lunch at the bottommost fall and pool.  The gorge and the falls were attractive, but since there were large cattle pastures higher up, the water quality was disappointing – a fact that did not keep Dan from a short skinny-dip.

After Kaiate Falls, we proceeded to the much higher Wairere Falls.  We had to stay clothed on the trail to the first overlook, at the bottom of the falls, but few people make the steep trek up to the top, so Dan and I enjoyed a fully nude hike up to the top and then back down.  Back at Katikati, we could soak our tired bones in the welcoming hot tub.

Katikati: Kaiate Scenic Reserve | 3
Rerekawau Falls

AONC: Waihi Beach to Orokawa Bay | 1

The next day was March 1.  We had hoped to join the Bay of Plenty (BOP) Naturists at Opoutere Beach, where they were planning to camp for the weekend before starting their northland camper-van caravan.  Unfortunately, we discovered that none of the BOP Naturists group would arrive until the evening, and we were due further north by then.  We consoled ourselves by hiking nude from the northern edge of a popular beach resort, Waihi, north across a headland to a mostly deserted and beautiful beach called Orokawa Bay.  It was the perfect spot for a naked lunch and a skinny dip.

By the evening we checked ourselves in to the Auckland Outdoor Naturist Club (AONC).  It occupies a stunning acreage of native bush in the middle of what has since become a busy suburb, less than half an hour from downtown Auckland.

In the hot tub early the next morning, I met an American woman, Sally, who has lived for 20-plus years in New Zealand and now lives mostly at AONC.  Sally mentioned that she was organizing a “working bee” for later that morning to clear out some of the invasive species of plants that threaten to choke out the native plants in the undeveloped parts of the property.  Though we had planned to head to one of the beaches west of Auckland, we all decided that it would be fun to meet some more NZ naturists while doing our bit for the NZ environment, so we volunteered for the working bee.  Dan and I cut up some unwanted trees that had already been felled, and John and Rainer pulled out …, often called “wandering Jew²,” an invader ground cover that spreads mercilessly but is easy to pull up.  Our volunteer efforts earned us a free lunch, giving us more opportunity to talk to the other naturists involved.

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² Latin name: “Tradescantia”

With the afternoon free, we decided to go to a lake formed by giant sand dunes that plug up a stream just inland from the beach.  Having never been there herself, Sally agreed to accompany.  We found that the giant dunes are a popular spot for teenagers to “surf” on boogie boards down the sand, so we had to stay clothed until we got partway around the lake, where we enjoyed a fine skinny dip.

The following day we explored several of the beautiful black-sand beaches west of Auckland, all of them backed by either dunes or cliffs.  North Piha Beach, itself sometimes used nude, is the beginning of a beautiful but challenging track up and over a headland to White’s Beach – great fun to do in the nude.  The steep descent is aided by wires embedded in the cliff.  The difficult route keeps mostly out the textile public, so there were very few people there, and at least one other nudist, so we enjoyed about an hour in the afternoon sun.  We finished off the day with a visit to another tall waterfall, too popular for nudity.

With our last full day in New Zealand, we decided to chill out at AONC.  We played on the trampoline, hiked the trails through the preserved areas of the property, and organized for our departures the following day.

AONC: Auckland Outdoor Naturist Club (AONC) | 9
On trampoline