BOP Sun Club welcomes a new committee

The Bay of Plenty Sun Club has a new committee! At yesterday's Annual General Meeting, the 28 members present welcomed five new members onto the committee. This included a new President and Secretary.
The enthusiasm of the new younger committee members has already been felt, with a new web page in the making, new events planned and a new logo.
Keep an eye out for the new calendar of events planned for the rest of the year.

Fun games weekend at Bay of Plenty Sun Club

The weather was great, the turnout was great, there were lots of visitors and the games were fun! What else can I say about our fun games weekend at the Bay of Plenty Sun Club apart from fantastic!!
We played horseshoes, petanque, croquet, mini-golf, pool golf (that's swimming pool golf) and fling golf (a new game). After a shared happy hour and BBQ, we finished the day with a darts competition.
Of course, I must mention our newly formed water volleyball team, who got in a lot of practice in the pool. It helped that the water was warm and that someone thought to bring a net and ball. Are there any clubs out there that want to challenge us? You'd better be prepared 'cos we have had practice!
All our visitors from Rotorua and Wellington certainly enjoyed themselves, staying over the weekend and beyond.

Christmas party

We had a really good turnout for our Christmas party with over thirty members enjoying the wonderfully sunny day.

The pool got a good workout, with many enjoying splashing around to cool off. This gave us a good opportunity to get some great photos that will soon grace our new web page.









Our new umbrellas gave us a shady spot where we could socialise for afternoon tea and happy hour.











Inside the clubhouse, the tables were beautifully decorated by a member for the Christmas dinner. The committee provided the meats for our Christmas meal with members providing veges, salads or dessert.
After the meal, our festivities continued with the usual 'pressi swap', which saw several presents change hands in the light-hearted spirit of the occasion.
The committee of the Bay of Plenty Sun Club would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and happy and healthy New Year.

Phoenix Shield heads back to the Bay of Plenty Sun Club

It was a well fought challenge for the Phoenix Shield between the Bay of Plenty Sun Club and Waikato Outdoor Society over the weekend. Five members of Bay of Plenty Naturists (who didn't belong to BOPSC or WOS) also helped out the BOPSC team. The theme was retro (50s, 60s and 70s), and some games certainly took us back to our childhood schoolyards. 

There was hopscotch

marbles,









skipping and 4 square, which were all much easier to do when we were young!

The standard petanque, croquet and golf were more conducive for some of us.

Car racing was a lot of fun for all, especially as we got to eat our lolly cars after the race. 

Remember the hula hoop - well the only ones who could wiggle their hips to do that were the young ones - and I mean really young ones (and one young Mum)!

After a hamburger dinner at Dave's Diner,  a night of nostalgia followed with LP records belting out music from the era. 

The outcome of the weekend was that BOP Sun Club won the shield back from WOS 9-6. So until next year when WOS will visit BOPSC for another challenge, the shield will remain in the Bay of Plenty.

Phoenix Shield this weekend

This weekend the Bay of Plenty Sun Club are heading over the hill to Waikato Outdoor Society for the annual Phoenix Shield challenge. This year, the theme is the '50s, '60s and '70s. Think retro games - I don't know what - maybe hula hoops, hop scotch, and other playground games. I am sure what ever is in store, everyone will have a fun time.
Dave's Diner will provide meals for dinner on Saturday night and it will be an 'I remember when...' evening. Book your meal with WOS on waikato.outdoor@gonatural.co.nz
The BOP Sun Club needs all the support we can muster so come along and help us retrieve the shield we lost last year. PLEASE!

Visitor weekend - a good turnout at Bay of Plenty Sun Club

The Bay of Plenty Sun Club hosted 30 people over Labour Weekend, with members being joined by fellow naturists from WOS, NZ Naturists and BOP Naturists as well as some day visitors from Rotorua, Kawerau and Tauranga.

Our visitors really enjoyed the company of the members staying on the grounds and our new caretaker did a great job showing the visitors around. It was good to see other members call in, even if just for the afternoon. On Saturday night we had a BYO BBQ and after that, some Wii games and sjoelen, which were provided by members. Those present had a turn at one or the other (or both) and some people stayed up late to watch the rugby.

Sunday was a good day to stay inside for the committee meeting or to watch a movie. Others just blobbed out with a good book or had a nap.

On Monday morning, our naked chefs cooked us breakfast on the BBQ. Fresh farm eggs were provided by one member and some of our visitors provided the bacon and hash browns. Sitting outside in the sunny BBQ area in club uniform while other parts of the country had snow and cold temperatures made us all realise that we really are lucky to be in the sunny Bay of Plenty.

Labour Weekend (20-22 October) at the Bay of Plenty Sun Club

The Bay of Plenty Sun Club will be holding a visitor weekend each day of Labour Weekend as part of the NZ Naturist Federation's 'gonatural Week'. Anyone who is interested in naturism is welcome to come along to find out more about this healthy lifestyle, without any obligation to join or disrobe.

We will have a BYO BBQ dinner on Saturday night and a bush walk either Saturday afternoon or Sunday afternoon. Sports equipment will be available for anyone wanting to play miniten, petanque, golf, etc. In the evening there will be Wii games and a slideshow will be running of some members' recent naturist holiday in Australia and Thailand.

We will also have something arranged for visitors interested in joining the club.

Our new pool solar heating system is up and running so who will be first into the pool for the season?

If you are interested in coming along, please phone the club on 0274405157 for more details or visit the club website: www.gonatural.co.nz/BOPSun

Mini-Olympics at BOP Sun Club

What a great night we had for our pot luck dinner and indoor games evening last weekend. Not only did we hold our own mini-Olympics, but we also watched Lisa Carrington, a local BOP canoeist from Ohope win the canoe sprint to give NZ its fifth gold medal at the Olympics.

 

We started with happy hour before one of our famous pot luck dinners. As usual, there was plenty of food and plenty of camaraderie. After dinner, we played sjoelen, darts and Wii games, including archery, 10-pin bowling and tennis. Who said that computer games weren’t strenuous! One member really got up a sweat playing tennis on the Wii. Some of the newer members tried their hand at sjoelen, with one beating the previous champion. The evening finished with a few members playing darts.

It was a great night of socialising on a golden night for the Bay of Plenty. As well, Sarah Walker from Kawerau, just down the road, won silver in the BMX a day before! It just goes to show that we are great sports in the Bay of Plenty.

Pot luck dinner and indoor games evening

Come along to the club this weekend (11-12 August) for our indoor games evening.

Starting with the mandatory Happy hour, and followed by a pot luck dinner, this is a great chance to get together with the other members of the club beside the roaring fire.

Then, try out some new games. An old game from Europe called sjoelen is a lot of fun. Then come into the modern era and try your hand at Wii sports such as 10 pin bowling, tennis and many more. Of course there will also be darts to complete the evenings entertainment.

On Sunday, it is time for the committee meeting at 10am so members are welcome to come along to that and see what the committee is doing on your behalf.

See you there!

Weekend in Rotorua - Part 3 Around the lakes

After warming up in the hot pools, eight of the group arrived at a campsite by Lake Rerewhakaaitu for the night. Happy hour was convened beside the picture perfect lake as the sun went down.

The next day, we toured around Lake Rerewhakaaitu, stopping off at the DOC camps on the shores of the lake. At the Ashpit Road camp, we searched for a ‘geocache’. Sadly we didn’t find it so continued on with the idea of having lunch, followed by a walk at ‘The Redwoods’. However there was a national cycling and kayaking event on there with the subsequent large number of vehicles – so to plan B (conceived as we sat in the traffic jam)! The lunch stop would now be Blue Lake.

 

After lunch, we decided to walk around the lake – a walk of 1½ hours, and then headed to our overnight camp on the shores of Lake Okareka. Here we watched the sun go down and the moon come up, making good use of the DOC shelter on the shores of the lake for happy hour.

Weekend in Rotorua - Part 2 'hot and cold' pools

After our trek up Rainbow Mountain, we went to the local 'hot and cold' pools in the Waiotapu thermal area. When we arrived and announced that we were naturists, the textiles already there left us to it, even though we decided to wear togs. Actually they were quite interested in us, as were some local children, who insisted that we put the local clay on our faces as they had done.

It was amazing how in a situation like that, out in the bush soaking in the hot pool, how friendly people were, all chatting to us. In a public swimming pool, that wouldn't be as likely to happen.

Another local resident, a huge rat, had discovered Peter's fruit and was busily trying to gnaw its way into his bag. So all in all, the locals were very friendly!
The pools lived up to their name, running and bubbling hot and cold. According to Peter and some other locals, the pools were definitely colder than normal. However, just by moving to another spot, the warm water returned to warm us up before we headed off to Lake Rerewhakaaitu for the night.

Our long weekend visit to Rotorua - Part 1 Rainbow Mountain

It was a great weekend in Rotorua for the BOP Sun Club’s outing, which included a walk up Rainbow Mountain, a hot swim at the ‘hot and cold’ pools, camping at Lake Rerewhakaaitu, a walk around Blue Lake (Tikitapu), camping at Lake Okareka and finishing with a walk around Hamurana Springs.

Volcanic Plateau from the summit of Rainbow Mountain

We started by meeting at Rainbow Mountain where sixteen keen walkers set off up the mountain on a foggy morning. But above the fog was blue sky and those who got to the top said it was actually warm enough to get their gear off for a photo (and longer). The view from above the fog was clear and extended as far as the snow capped Mt Ruapehu!

At the top of Rainbow Mountain

Crater Lake - Rainbow Mountain



Rainbow Mountain outing

The BOP Sun Club is going to Rotorua this Saturday for a walk up Rainbow Mountain (or the shorter less strenuous Crater Lake). Meet at the Rainbow Mountain carpark (on SH5 just past the SH38 turnoff to Murupara) about 11am Saturday for an early lunch before doing the walks.

We will stay at one of the DOC camps in Brett Road, Lake Rerewhakaaitu (the larger one) on Saturday night ($6pp), go for a hot swim at Kerosene Creek (bring your togs just in case) and maybe if the weather is suitable go for a walk at The Redwoods or Lake Okareka on Sunday. If the weather is unsuitable for walking, we may stay at Waikite where there are hot pools (togs needed for the main pool - if staying, unlimited use of the main pools is included in the overnight charge, although they do have private pools). http://www.hotpools.co.nz/

If the weather is really bad, we will still be going but will look at more indoor events in Rotorua, so the plans will be dependent on the weather. If you can't find us but would like to join in, phone me on the BOP Sun Club phone on 027 440 5157.

New committee sworn in!

As you can see, the BOP Sun Club has a new committee after the AGM and are raring to go with some innovative ideas to progress the club through to 2013.

It was great to see our five brand new members come along as well and to offer some good ideas to help revitalise the club. One has already offered to revamp our web page and another has offered to help out with lawn mowing. WOW - we love these new guys!!

The new committee has taken on board some suggestions from other members too and in the near future, there will be some exciting events to which  members of other clubs would be welcome to join us at as well. WATCH THIS SPACE!

A Right Royal Banquet

Don't forget that this weekend, to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's actual birthday, the BOP Sun Club will be holding a feast good enough for royalty. Well it is actually a pot luck dinner, but the food at the BOP Sun Club is always fit for a King (or Queen)!

Bring along something royal, regal or just downright tasty to share with the other members. It will be a good chance to get together before the very important AGM next month. These social events are always good for sharing views and opinions with fellow members over a drink or meal.

Just remember to leave the corgis at home!

BOP Naturists Mystery Weekend

Thank you BOP Sun Club for hosting the BOP Naturists Mystery Weekend. About a dozen members of the BOP Naturists group who did not belong to the club made their first visit to the club grounds and joined another dozen or so club members.

Special thanks to Peter and Sharron for taking us all on the walk, and to Jenny for taking the group visitors on a walk through the bush tracks at the club. Thanks to Rien for showing us all how to play Sjoelen and Kim, a new member, who brought along a new card game 'Sabouteur' which we all enjoyed. Also thanks to all other members of the club who helped make the weekend a success.

Thanks also to the members of the club for not spilling the beans regarding the location of the Mystery Weekend. It certainly showed what a great team effort it was from the club members to make the visitors feel welcome.

Open weekend

On 3-4 March, the BOP Sun Club will be holding an open day at their club grounds, 430 Manawahe Road, Matata (GPS Ref: 37^o55’S, 176^o44’E).

Anyone interested in the naturist lifestyle is welcome to attend. Families especially welcome.

There is no obligation to join or disrobe. Free lunchtime BBQ and 'goody bags'.

Bush walks, swim in the pool or take a spa. Play petanque, mini-golf or try miniten (the naturists version of tennis), or just relax. Children's play area.

Pool party late afternoon. BYO drinks and food for a BBQ later on.

Special discounted subscriptions for new members (conditions apply).

Phone 027 440 5157 or email: bopsc@gonatural.co.nz for more information.