Queer Woods of Pennsylvania (part II)

In my previous post, I promised to continue about queer woods of Pennsylvania that were only going to get queerer, so here is where we ended up on another hot summer weekend: not a haunted house this time, but a lively campground, ‘the Woods’, oriented to gay and lesbian clientele. As you can expect from the name, it is located in the woods in the rural part of Pennsylvania. Most people stay in trailers or cabins, but you can also opt for a tent. The atmosphere is very laid-back, so clothing-optional policy only helps to ease your mind; on the other hand, they organise themed weekends, so you’re likely to find company with similar interests. Needless to say, it was a nudist weekend, when I was there with more than a dozen of naked friends.

One of the obvious things to do in the woods is, of course, hiking, and ‘the Woods’ provide plenty of room for hiking au naturel.

There are designated trails on the territory that belongs to the campground, but when we ended up at the edge of the Christmas tree farm, it was hard to resist posing in front of those in my favourite attire… I wouldn’t mind this kind of Christmas!

This guy in fur coat was clearly overdressed. It wasn’t a white Christmas!

Or was it?

There was a field full of chamomiles.

The field was so big, it seemed easy to get lost there!

So we returned to the campground for lunch and some relaxing time by the pool. There is also a small lake, but surprisingly very few people use it. Maybe this funny warning note is to blame for that.

Of course, it didn’t stop me from swimming there. To me, presence of fish is rather a sign of a healthy lake.

Shallow area in the middle of the lake indeed had numerous nests of sunfish.

But you can also explore the pond without getting wet: a pedal boat and a canoe are provided as well.

You can also see it as a work out: first legs,

then upper body 😉

And maybe some balancing exercises on a small rock in the middle of the lake?

I wasn’t the only one to claim the rock, but its true owner is this pond slider turtle.

Next to the pond, there was a sunlit meadow full of daylillies.

Activities don’t stop at ‘the Woods’ at night. They even offer a midnight hike! Many people have actually joined. Just watch out for ticks (it’s actually good to stay naked, so they cannot hide in and under clothes). The nights when we stayed were very warm, but in case it cools down, there are two hot tubs and a huge fire as well.

What else do you need to stay warm than a bunch of naked friends and a fire?

And to top it all up, the campground boasts a decent night club, well-decorated and with good sound. Unlike at Sunny Rest, another naturist club in this part of Pennsylvania, most people were dancing in the buff.

The choice of music didn’t necessarily fit my taste, but I surely enjoyed the night.

It was a fun retreat, special thanks to Ryan for organizing it!

video from River Island Nature Retreat (NSW, Australia)

My naturist pen pal Brenton wrote in his first post for this blog about a beautiful nature retreat in New South Wales, Australia, called River Island. While the north-eastern state Queensland is suffering from floods and is in a critical state now, NSW seems to have a good summer weather, so Brenton made this cool video about his latest visit to River Island.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xgl0qv_river-island-naturist-reserve_lifestyle#.USBYWqVH3TY

Enjoy! Hope to visit that and many other places in Oz one day…

River Island Nature Retreat (NSW, Australia)

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!

Naturist campsite in Western Peloponnese, Greece

ελληνικά

Kaiafas (or Kayafas) is an immensely long beach with very pleasant soft sand, which makes it perfect for jogging at the waterfront,
beach sports, capoeira or whatever you can think of is good on sand.
Proximity to ancient Olympia (Ολύμπια) probably may give some additional inspiration for practicing sports in the nude and combining it with some music and dancing, as ancient Greek athletes did. There is also a lake and nice pine forest, 
and enough space for camping.