I became a nudist in a very indirect way – I was planning my coming summer holidays and was trying to decide between Byron Bay and Port Stephens and was discussing the two options with a number of work collegues and eventually my boss. He told me he would be holidaying in Port Stephens and was full of recommendations so I continued my research and discovered that Byron Bay was going to be too expensive and continued the discussions with my boss about Port Stephens.
He told me he would be spending most of his time at Samurai Beach, and that it had good surf and a very friendly crowd. So on this information I researched Samurai Beach and discovered it was a legal clothing optional beach.
I eventually booked some accommodation and when I told him this I said, “So, I’ll be able to go to the nude beach with you and your family, won’t I”.
He closed his office door and we had a long conversion about naturism, and that this was not a topic for general distribution in the office. He also surprised me by inviting me and a friend to travel with his family Samurai Beach prior to the summer holidays and see if naturism was for me.
After a conversation with my best friend, we agreed this was a good idea and have set a date for early November.
But my first time came a lot quicker than that. Two days later my boss and I were assigned to spend two weeks working in New Caledonia and were able to fit in a few days on the beach or out on an associate's boat exploring the atolls and cays offshore from Noumea.
The day we arrived we went to the beach at Anse Vata on the edge of the capital city of Noumea. I had not expected to spend any time on the beach so that afternoon I started on the beach in a pair of gym shorts and top. After fifteen minutes, I realised that I was out of place with that amount of clothing on as it seemed every woman on the beach was wearing no more than a thong – even the 14 and 15 yo girls.
So I stripped down to just the thong I was wearing under my shorts – it seemed strange wearing so little in front of my boss (he was wearing his Speedos) but he appeared to not even notice, which really made me more comfortable.
That was the Sunday and we worked solidly until the following Friday which we had off in preparation to work the weekend. As I said he had arranged for the two of us to borrow a boat and do some exploration so at 8:30 we left from Port Moselle in a 24 foot half cabin runabout and headed for Ilôt Laregnere.
As soon as we had cleared the marina he was down to his Speedos, and suggested that I could strip down if I wanted. I told him if he wanted to go nude, I didn’t mind – so as we cleared the harbour and passed the last house he was nude at the wheel and I was wearing only my thong. We sailed on for an hour before we pulled up in the leeward of a beautiful white sand island inside a coral lagoon.
As my boss set the anchor I decided it was now or never and I slipped out of my thong. Apart from the two of us there was not another soul to be seen – we spent the morning snorkelling (nude), sunbaking (nude), eating (nude). I don’t now why but the feeling of the water and the sun on my body was so different – exhilarating – than it had been a few days earlier when I was wearing only a little more.
Just after eleven another boat arrived and dropped four couples and six teenage kids at the beach before the boat disappeared, presumably back to Noumea. After they had set up camp of a few umbrellas and towels on the sand, the adults stripped off completely - soon followed by the teenagers. I was astounded to see teenage boys and girls naked in front of each other, and in front of their parents, and mentioned this to my boss.
We then had a long talk about naturism and how it crosses all age groups – and after all I was only a few years older than these kids. He then suggested we should swim in and say hello and have a chat. This seemed like a big step – to be naked in front of strangers – but he convinced me into the water and onto the beach.
After a series of “Bonjours” and apologies for poor French we quickly fell into conversation and were offered drinks and an invitation to stay for lunch. We bought the boat into the shallows and spent the rest of the day with our new friends.
All up we spent seven hours naked that day and I think it was one of the most enjoyable days of my life. I was very surprised by the generosity and friendliness of the people and the easy with which the kids interacted. I found the youngest was 13 and the eldest 18 but there was a continuous rapport among them. It was obvious that naturism was worth exploring.