Author: αNaturist

Swan Lake

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

swan 0000 Wannsee, Berlin, Germany

I’ve seen something that impressed me so much, I couldn’t skip it on my blog, although it has little to do with naturist activities…

Swan Lake, Pyotr Tchaikovsky‘s masterpiece, has been arguably the most popular ballet for decades and has also become classics in modern dance thanks to Matthew Bourne‘s interpretation, first staged in 1995 in London’s West End and never having a break since then with several tours around the world.

I first saw their billboards in Athens where they were on tour last autumn, but finally got a chance to see the show itself last weekend here in New York.

I won’t pretend being an expert in modern dance (although I do like it), but I hardly can imagine any other show that can beat Bourne’s Swan Lake in both choreography and emotional message, so beautiful and powerful, romantic and tragic. There is an interview with Matthew Bourne on youtube where he talks about New York’s production specifically. In short, the Prince is struggling with his false and exposed life where he cannot get love and understanding neither from his mother nor girlfriend, and then he sees (dreams of?) a flock of swans…

He falls in love with their leader, who is a reincarnation of everything the Prince actually wants to be: strong and free…

One of the things that struck me was that the swans in the show moved and behaved pretty much like swans in reality. I tell you as a zoologist 😉 , and I’ve seen plenty of them at the Wannsee lake in Berlin.)

The swans in this performance were not only gracious creatures, typically portrayed in Tchaikovky’s ballet, but also vigorous and sometimes fierce.

naturist & swan 0001 Wannsee, Berlin, Germany

They may come to you

swan 0000 Wannsee, Berlin, Germany

and bow gently.

naturist & swan 0002 Wannsee, Berlin, Germany

(oops! this one even slightly overdid it, putting his head underwater.) But they may also hiss and move menacingly if you come too close

naturist & swan 0005 Wannsee, Berlin, Germany

or simply leave all of a sudden…

And don’t even try to catch them:

naturist & swan 0000 Wannsee, Berlin, Germany

you are lucky if they decide to escape, otherwise they can actually hit you!

But if you are even luckier, perhaps you’ll be able to find your way to a swan… A possible interpretation of Bourne’s Swan Lake is a desire to be one with nature, whose symbol in the story is a swan. Maybe Matthew Bourn should have staged some of the scenes in the nude, that would certainly make the connection even more powerful and dancers’ moves even more beautiful…

naturist & swan 0004 Wannsee, Berlin, Germany

Anyways, this is how the Prince found his ultimate freedom…

Nu York, Nu York! (now you can see it!)

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

Well, I clearly underestimated New York’s naturist capacity! It’s pretty clear that it won’t beat Berlin (unless legislation changes), but still, thanks to my new nudie friend Christian, I’ve found another unofficial nudist spot, and he will show me even more, but probably I’ll have to wait for the next season… But I didn’t suspect that during this autumn I would find two beaches and even fulfill my fantasy of taking a nude pic with Manhattan skyline on the background!

So on the same shore where I visited a gay and partially nudist beach of Jacob Riis park (on the right photo above, you can see those towers of Jacob Riis Park), there is quite a long stretch of sandy beach to the South, which is surrounded by forested dunes in the area of Fort Tilden, an abandoned military fort. According to Christian, this beach gets crowded only on weekends during hot season, otherwise it’s rather empty and you can find quite a few people enjoying its quietness without any clothes.

But besides having a nice long beach, this area is also good for a stroll through a forest and visiting some abandoned bunkers. It may get quite spooky, actually! But one of the bunkers has a observation platform on top. Since the place is not frequented by too many visitors, we felt quite comfortable to disrobe and take some shots. But we had to be quite careful listening if any other visitor were getting closer. In any case, for at about an hour, there was no one around, and we totally enjoyed the view of Manhattan skyline

and surrounding forest up to the beach.

Although the city appears very far on the photos,

I actually felt like I could just fly there.

No, in the end we had to travel back by bikes and subway, and in the late afternoon it got really chilly too (it’s the end of October after all).

But it was a great and unique experience. For the lack of a better phrase, I felt as if New York was at my feet 😀

River Island Nature Retreat (NSW, Australia)

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists

River Island Nature Retreat is about 2.5 hours drive from the centre of Sydney in the Southern Highlands. It’s probably an odd choice of location for a clothing optional retreat as the Southern Highlands aren’t exactly very warm a lot of the time.

view 0001 River Island, New South Wales, AustraliaThe retreat is set on the Wollondilly River and it’s beautiful in a very typically Australian Bush kind of way.You can walk for several kilometres and follow some 4 wheel drive tracks, swim in the river or enjoy the pool, all nude if you like.

naturist 0003 River Island, New South Wales, Australia

The area is home to some wild goats, and it’s at River Island that I finally got to see some of Australia’s native wildlife for the first time in the wild. The platypus and the echidna are very shy animals but along with kangaroos and wombats, they call River Island home.

kangaroo 0000 River Island, New South Wales, Australia

I’ve been three times now, at the very end of last summer and very very early in this Spring and I’ve only seen a couple of other people camping.

naturist 0000 River Island, New South Wales, Australianaturist 0001 River Island, New South Wales, Australia

There are cabins for hire up on the hill near the main complex but it’s too beautiful down on the banks of the river not to camp there.

naturist 0002 River Island, New South Wales, Australia

Text and photos by Brenton, but check out his video about this place too!

Ilha Deserta in Portugal (Desert Island)

by αNaturist, posted in Uncategorized
If you want empty beaches in Algarve, it is possible to find several spots.

Although only a couple of nude beaches are legal in Portugal (like Praia do Meco or Praia 19 close to Lisbon), some are so empty that you may be naked and nobody cares.

Oneof those beaches is in Ilha deserta. To reach this island from Faro just follow the link (http://www.ilha-deserta.com/?lang=uk). Each person will pay 10 euros for a return ticket and each journey will take around 30-40min, but the journey is totally worth it!

 

You can find only one ecology-restaurant and loads of wasps, however completely tolerable.
And the water is so warm and beautiful, you won’t want to get out of it!

Are you still wondering why I go there every summer?
 

Text and photos by Fabrício

Naturist resorts in Thailand

by αNaturist, posted in Uncategorized

My wife and I have just returned from a month’s vacation in Thailand that included visits to the two clothing optional resorts, one lonely 1.5 kilometer beach, a deserted island with a 500 meter white sand beach and crystal clear water, and a nude cruise.

There are places to go nude and get an all over tan in Thailand you just have to have the right information. I get mine from www.Thailandnaturist.com.

We stayed at www.ChanResort.com (which has been sold and is in the process of building a new resort). The resort is now called www.ChanTwinResort.webs.com. Chan Twin is continuing the policies of clothing optional in Pattaya, which is only an hour and a half from Bangkok.

We made this our headquarters for the month. Chan Twin Resort is a small 9 petite villa resort between Pattaya and Jomtien. It is run by the Chan Twin and really cares for the temperament of naturists.

You can be nude at the pool around your villa and going to and from the pool. There will be some folks with clothes on so you have to be a strong naturist. You cannot be nude in the eating area or office. You will need your towel or a Pakama (a short Thai sarong) which are nice and cheap and should cost less than 4 dollars.

We made a nude cruise to a deserted island from Pattaya on the 23 meter boat Edina. Where the boat anchored it was 10 meters deep water and was as clear as looking in a glass of water. Of course as soon as we were out of the port off came the clothes, some folks hit the sun deck, others the lounge, and a couple just sat in the fighting chairs and soaked up the rays. We swam to the beach we had a nice barbeque, then snorkeled and enjoyed ourselves on the beach.

We also made a day trip to Koh Larn Island and visited the clothing optional beach that is developing there. You can take a slow boat or a fast boat to the island and then a Songkaw Taxi to Samae Beach. Once at Samae Beach go to the most southern part away from the resort areas. There are two trees that will give you some shade. You can rent lounge chairs from the resort; they will charge you about 300 baht (less than ten dollars). If you get hungry put on a wrap and go to the resort, place your order and they will bring it to you. There is now another beach which we starting to use with nice big trees for shade.

Later in the month we rented a car in Pattaya (brought my own GPS with Thai chip) and drove to http://www.thai-bamboo.com in Cha Am. It is about 1.5 to 2 hour drive from Bangkok and is an easy drive. We planned to stay at Thai-Bamboo for 4 days and also visit Hua Hin where there is a lonely beach that one can spend the day on.

Of course we visited the lonely 1.5 kilometer beach in Cha Am. The beach is beautiful and the only place we have found Sand Dollars in Thailand.

The water here is much better than the beaches in Pattaya. Thai-Bamboo is out of town so a car is needed or you can arrange with Rudy the owner to get you there and back.

Text and photos by Bruce

Enjoying Japanese hot springs in the rain

by αNaturist, posted in Uncategorized

My first post on this blog was about hot springs in Izu peninsula not far from Tokyo, so much I was impressed by the experience and the setting! So of course when I went to Tokyo this summer I couldn’t contain myself and went to Izu again. It was very hot but raining most of the time. Nevertheless, it did not scare too many tourists, so I did not find the walk along the Kawazu river with seven waterfalls to be as great as the last time. On top of that my Japanese friend Tomo couldn’t join me…

Still, I enjoyed viewing the waterfalls and hiking through the hilly forest.

I wanted to make a photo of me in the bamboo forest but didn’t have much time to go away from the hiking trail.
It was quite astonishing to walk through such a dense subtropical forest that is just 2h away from bustling Tokyo agglomeration…
I didn’t see any deer like the last time, but there was another beautiful and much more frequent encounter: a huge black butterfly the size of a small bird.
In the end of the trail, more and more settlements became visible, and a sign of the local natural wonder appeared too:
This is a cloud of steam coming from the hot springs. It was quite hot, but I was looking forward to a warm bath after getting wet in the drizzle (though it wasn’t so bad thanks to an umbrella that the woman from the information desk at Kawazu train station gave me).
I couldn’t wait to go to the same onsen as the last time, called Amagiso, as it was right on the bank of the river next to the last of 7 waterfalls. But unfortunately it was closed, although it was just a quarter past 4! Unusually for Japan, the staff didn’t even bother to explain it to me in a polite form, so I just went to another onsen few meters away. I could still see some people in open-air hot springs of Amagiso, but to my disappointment they were all in swimsuits, which I didn’t take with me, so probably it was a good idea to go to another spot. So the neighboring onsen did not have such a nice view of the waterfalls (I could only hear them, but it had somewhat more traditionally decorated pool.
And I had it all for myself! It felt fantastic to soak in this hot bath during the rain.
For directions, check out my first post about this area.

Nu York, Nu York! (Jacob Riis Park beach)

by αNaturist, posted in active naturists
As I mentioned previously, I was looking for a job and went for an interview in New York in May. Now, I am finally in the Big Apple and have been settling in quite good so far. At last, I feel I have some spare time to fulfill my promise to update my blog with the new stuff from this summer! First, however, I have an autumn surprise. I was worried there wouldn’t be a possibility to hang out naked outdoors within reasonable distance from NYC… Luckily, a good friend of mine told me about an ‘insider’ nudie spot within New York City Transit area; a picturesque beach where nudity is practiced too!
naturist 0000 Jacob Riis Park beach, NY, USA
I must add immediately, that the majority of people there are not totally naked , and many say one should be careful with police raids, but others convince me there is no problem with that. So, mostly, this beach attracts gay men, many of whom wear rather amusing (to my taste) kinds of swimming trunks – I have not seen such a diversity of swimwear anywhere else (probably not the best comment to a nudist beach). Nevertheless, it is probably as nude as it gets within New York City boundaries. Most of the people seem to be regular visitors who know each other, so it was difficult for a newcomer like me to stay unnoticed. Even though sometimes I felt like I got too much of unwanted attention, it was good to get to know locals. They are very friendly, and it is common to share food and drinks (or sun lotion) with your neighbors there. And ethnical diversity reflects the multicultural scene of Brooklyn and the whole New York City.
naturist 0001 Jacob Riis Park beach, NY, USA
It is Jacob Riis Park, a part of seemingly endless sandy beach line, but the gay and nudist-friendly part is at the border with the private sector section and with a former nursery home at the background.
naturist 0004 Jacob Riis Park beach, NY, USA
The ocean may be very rough at high tide but is usually calmer at low tide. I wouldn’t advice to swim too far if you are alone. Luckily, I’ve found a company of a good swimmer Hassan, who was also nicknamed as a mayor of the beach. naturist 0002 Jacob Riis Park beach, NY, USA
Be careful with a strong current at high tide, as it may bring you quickly westwards: it is difficult to swim back then, and there are remains of wooden pierce which may become a real threat if you get hit by a strong waive. Nevertheless, if you are careful enough and have a companion, it can be a great fun to swim under such high waves.
One day, there were also a lot of jelly fish, but it is not a problem for tough men 😉
naturist 0003 Jacob Riis Park beach, NY, USA
(well, the jelly-fish were all dead and did not sting, hehe)
So, I am happy to tell you yes, there is a place for naked beach time and swimming in New York City! And the weather was good enough even in mid-October, which is another good surprise after Berlin. (Though my first summer in Berlin, in 2006, was also amazing in terms of the weather: if you look at my post about Berlin and nearby areas, there are photos from Warnemünde at the Baltic Sea made in October! But I heard here in NYC it’s a norm unlike in Berlin.)
PS Did you notice what I was drinking on the photo above? The famous “Naked” smoothies 😉
Perhaps another candidate to sponsor this blog besides japanese “Kirin Nuda”
naturist 0005 Jacob Riis Park beach, NY, USA

under construction

by αNaturist, posted in houseworks naked, naturism, nude, nudism, nudist, nudity at home, public nudity, working naked

I hope many readers of this blog are longing for new posts already, but unfortunately I have been busy with too many things.

Just one of the things is the renovation of my boyfriend’s flat which he now has to continue alone while I am heading to my parents in Ukraine… but at least I’ve contributed something.
Another reason why there hasn’t been much posted recently is because I actually have so much new material that I really need some time to prepare it well…
And my boy has to give me some photos, new and old (from the last year), so keep in touch!

KIRIN NUDA (Japanese refreshment?)

by αNaturist, posted in hot springs, Izu, Japan, Kirin Nuda, naturism, nudity, nudity at home, onsen, public nudity

… It’s quite interesting that my last post was written on the other side of the Pacific Ocean and I am again dreaming of visiting natural hot springs. So I am in Tokyo now, it rains not less than during my trip to Oregon in the end of May, but at least it is quite hot now (+28C max, +24C at night), even the rain is warm so it doesn’t bother much. So you’d think the only good clothes in such conditions would be no clothes at all, but of course you wouldn’t dare to go naked in the city. So once in a while you have to experience the discomfort of the wet clothes, both from rain and sweat…

There is not much nature left around this huge and buzzing metropole, but I will try to escape somewhere. Somewhere like Izu peninsula, where I discovered the joy of natural hot springs (onsen) on my previous visit to Japan four years ago…
But for now I am just enjoying some fresh sea food in my room, and look what kind of peculiar Japanese refreshing beverage I have!
I thought I’d have to take a picture with it! It practically says my name and that I’m nude, haha. Well, it seems my blog has found a candidate for sponsoring 😉

in Oregon now

by αNaturist, posted in hot springs, naked, naturism, nude, nudist, Oregon, skinny dipping, USA

I am in Portland now, and the weather is dreadful! I thought of going biking+camping on the weekend to visit natural hot springs (they are especially tempting in such weather), but it’s probably to cold to sleep in a tent (it is about +5…+7ºC at night), especially if I get wet while riding the bike… A car would help, but I can’t drive 😦 OK, getting driver’s license is on must-do list for the summer!

I don’t want to miss such wonders as Cougar hot springs, just look at these photos I’ve found at Panoramio:

Ah, I so want to repeat that amazing experience of natural hot springs that I had on Izu peninsula in Japan… Well, if not here in Oregon, then hopefully when I am again in Japan in July. There, it was possible to reach the onsens (hot springs) by public transport…