2020.02.17 Stuff
Eileen Saunders and Jas Base enjoy walks along the beach but they're not romantic - they're nude.
The pair are part of the Taranaki Naturist Club and spent an overcast Sunday morning taking part in the annual nude beach walk with seven others from the Waiongana Stream to Bell Block.
It's not a nudist beach, but they had alerted the general public to the fact it was taking pace.
It was the first time Saunders and Base had taken part in the beach walk, and they loved it.
"Once you get your clothes off, you're all on the same level," Saunders, who had just a towel wrapped around her neck, said.
"You make friends for life."
Saunders met her husband Ray at a nudist community named Rotota, between TaupÅ and Rotorua, and he was already part of the Taranaki club, so she joined a few years ago, too.
"I tell you what, it makes washing a whole lot easier."
Saunders said joining a nudist community was one of the best decisions she ever made and she and Ray now live in Rotota.
"A lot of people have the wrong impression. They are scared to see other people naked.
"It's changed my life."
In saying that, she doesn't force it on others and got married less than two years ago - in clothes.
"We're nudists; we're not exhibitionists."
Base, who only wore a hat on the walk, joined the club after his band played for the community once and he fell in love with naturism.
"You have to experience it to know what it's like," Base said.
"When you're comfortable with it, it's the best."
His friends are mostly accepting of it too, but not everyone is.
"I do cop a bit of flack but it's all in good fun.
"You get some closed-minded people and all that, but everyone's entitled to their opinion."
