General Discussions

OK folks, listen up! (or should I say, read up!). There's a number of things that need to be explained, especially for our newer members, but a timely reminder for all of us. Now this is a bit lengthy, so make a cup of tea, settle in a comfy chair, and read on . . .

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FIRSTLY - the chat box. As you've all noticed, the chat box is disabled at the moment for private chats (You can still message me at admin).

There are several problematic reasons for this, and until they are all addressed I'm not planning on re-installing it. Here are some of the complaints I've received about the chat box (no names mentioned) . . .

1. It's too slow and sometimes doesn't even load.

2. "It has too much lag behind my typing speed and omits letters."

3. It's too clunky and unresponsive when creating group chats.

4. It doesn't always notify people when I send them a message.

5. It's a primitive app that doesn't have any decent features.

There are a few others, but those are the main ones as far as performance is concerned.

However, another issue has come to light in the last few months - one that we had to address a couple of years ago - and that is abuse of the chat facility by a few members.

Earlier in the year one of our younger members sent me a screenshot of an inappropriate, unsolicited, sexually charged chat message they had received from an older guy. The offender was removed immediately, however I'm aware of others who have also received unwelcome chat messages.

More recently a couple of inappropriate sexual images appeared on our Wix Chat Visitor Uploads folder. One image was uploaded twice, and the other just the once, so they are from three separate chats. At this stage I have no idea who uploaded them, as the media file is separate from the chat log files, and we have over 300 members now. It's a slow process scanning the whole chat log for certain keywords and it takes time, which I'd rather put into other things. But it's disappointing that some folks feel so entitled as to agree to our Code of Conduct and then flagrantly disregard them. Sadly, like many other naturist sites, we get targeted from time to time with people who use naturism as a respectable cover for seeking out sexual connections.

Let's be clear about this. We are NOT the Morality Police! We are all sexual beings and of course there is nothing wrong with sexual activity between consenting adults. But Hauraki Naturally does not exist to provide a hook-up service, any more than a tennis club or Rotary Club or any other specialty enterprise does. If that's what you're after, then fine - go for it - but you're in the wrong place here. Feel free to send me an email in all confidence and I'll remove your account for you. It's no problem - really! And it will save me the effort of scanning the files to find you, which I will have to do shortly otherwise.

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SECONDLY - Please understand what we exist for. We are a Clothing-Optional Advocacy group. Our passion is to take clothes-free recreation into the public arena to demonstrate the physical and mental health benefits of spending time without clothing in appropriate public spaces. We do this by organising groups of us to go hiking, cycling, swimming, and other fun activities in places where the public can be shown that being naked is not illegal, totally acceptable, and nothing to do with sex.

In other words, our life is in the great outdoors - not behind a computer or cell-phone screen. The website is simply where we go for information, encouragement and resources to keep focus on our aims, and to communicate our ideas as a group. But our actual life is in the real world. That's where we get to know each other, make friends, exercise our ambitions, and encourage the newer members among us that still lack the confidence. You learn by doing - not by sitting at a chat box!

Think of it this way . . . if you want to learn to sail, you join a sailing club. You go along, meet the other members and use their training boats to learn the skills of sailing. And guess what - you're highly likely to make some great friends along the way that you want to keep in touch with. And that's awesome!

But guess what you'll never find on your local boat club's website (if they have one). A chat box. Why? Because you can't learn to sail by chatting on a chat box! A chat box can never be the "heart" of a sailing club, as someone suggested could be said of Hauraki Naturally. Because the aim of a sailing club is to foster a love of sailing and teaching the skills. Although you're likely to make friends there, the sailing club was never set up to provide a friendship service or lonely hearts club! And you certainly wouldn't join a sailing club to look for sexual hook-ups!

Exactly the same principles apply to us. It's been great to meet so many of you in person during our events, and I hope to meet more of you.

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THIRDLY - About reluctant wives / spouses/ partners / significant others. This is a really tricky one, and I really feel for those it affects. A significant number of our members have wives or partners that are not supportive of their clothes-free lives. Trust me - it's more common than you might think. And this non-support varies in intensity from "mildly disinterested", where the partner doesn't partake themselves but is happy for the member to be involved, to "vehemently against", where the partner is strictly opposed to the point of threatening divorce.

No matter how severe your partner's opposition is, it's still a distressing situation to be in because it hinders you to live your authentic self. You feel blackmailed into living a lie in order to preserve your relationship and that becomes a terrible dilemma. You are left with an seemingly impossible question to answer: "What do I love more - being naked or my wife?"

We're no psychologists or marriage guidance experts, but this article is a good read and may offer some ideas: https://ournaturistlife.com/2025/04/27/what-to-do-when-one-of-you-isnt-ready/

But one thing is vitally important to bear in mind . . . PLEASE don't lie to your partner that you're "going fishing" or "off to play golf" or "meeting the guys down at the pub" when really you're going somewhere to spend time naked - especially one of Hauraki Naturally's events. Because, if you do and we find out, it makes us complicit in your deceit. We have already had to remove two members for coming on a hike and telling others that they lied to their wives about where they were going. Be up front with your partner, or please don't come along. Because if your partner somehow becomes aware that you lied to them, that you really attended one of our events and we knew about the deceit, then it drags us all into the mud with you.

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Well, that's it for now. Sorry if this all came across a bit heavy-handed, but we have all kinds of people of all ages among our members, including families with kids, who all use our website, so it's paramount that it continues to be a safe and welcoming space for everyone, and that we maintain transparency. Thank you all for your understanding. Comment if you wish, or you're welcome to email me - haurakinaturally@gmail.com - in confidence if you prefer.

See you on the next event!

Rok