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!

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



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.