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.

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

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!

Mid-winter Christmas dinner

We had a great night at the Asian Fusion restaurant in Papamoa for the BOP Sun Club's mid-winter Christmas dinner. The turnout was fantastic for the middle of winter when a lot of people just want to stay home and keep warm. Twenty-four people shared a meal and had a good night socialising with fellow club members as well as a few from BOP Naturists who don't belong to the club.

The best part of the evening was that I won the raffle - however, seeing as Col paid for the ticket I guess I will have to share the large basket of goodies with him!

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



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!

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.