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The Sunday Telegraph, 20 November 2005, Your Say

Deciding if you need the bikini at all

“EVER tried going au naturel at your local nudist beach?” we were asked in body+soul (ST, 13/11). If only it was such a simple decision: leaving the bikini at home for La Perouse or taking it to Bondi Beach.

Coming from Europe as a life-long naturist, I find it very frustrating how few local nudist beaches there are in Australia for weekend visitors or holidaymakers.
In Vienna, a third of the Danube Island beaches are legally nude beaches, and are marked as such on every official city map and tourist guide. They’ve been there for decades and are very popular.
In Europe FKK (free body culture) is a choice available to everyone*.
Here in New South Wales, where one cannot even be nude in a public sauna, there are five legal free beaches, and only three of them are in Sydney. And they’re tiny, overcrowded, and not easily accessible.
Given that, according to surveys^, about 30 per cent of beach goers aren’t bothered by skinny dipping in the right location and in a safe natural environment, to have fewer than one per cent of our beautiful beaches designated as clothes optional beaches is very unfair, to say the least.
Instead of opening more resources to the naturist lifestyle, local councils make it even harder for patrons of our traditional (but still ‘unofficial’) nude beaches such as La Perouse, where signs have recently been posted that ‘this is NOT a nude beach’.
In spite of possible on-the-spot penalties naturists are still enjoying this beach, as they have since the ‘70s.
To lobby Randwick City Council to designate the beach for naturism, support our Free Beach Action Group.

Gerald Ganglbauer
Convenor
Free Beach Action Group

* Germany alone has an estimated 10 Million naturist holidaymakers per year. France and Croatia are market leaders in this segment.
Source: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/FKK

^ Another nudist beach for Sydney : Rate the idea
For, even on section of major beach - 32%
For, if it's out of the way - 26%
Don't mind - 26%
Opposed - 17%
Total Votes: 1763  Poll date: 28/10/05
Source: http://smh.com.au/polls/results.html

© 2005 Gerald Ganglbauer | Back | 25 November 2005