2021.02.15 The Sun
The founder of an Instagram account called Get Naked Australia is sharing his favourite things you can do nude around the country.
The account, which has 226k followers, has a feed comprising photos submitted by people getting naked out in the wild.
And now the founder, Sydney-sider Brendan Jones, is recommending his top activities to do naked around Australia.
Sailing on the harbour and rock climbing featured on his list, as did hot air ballooning, yoga retreats, weekend retreats and camping.
Jones founded the account back in 2015 after he started hiking then stripping off at swimming holes.
The 28-year-old physio
told Escape the idea for the movement came about after he got 12 photos of himself naked with a scenic backdrop, and put them in a calendar for his wife for Christmas.
“It got a lot of laughs so I thought about starting an Instagram page for the bum shots and calling it Get Naked Australia. It just snowballed in popularity after that,” he said.
Get Naked Australia also now runs a range of nude activities around the country.
The Get Naked Australia events began in Sydney but Jones’ organisation has recently expanded into Queensland and Victoria.
"In Sydney we run a few harbour cruises each year and we’re now running weekend retreats," he said.
"This is in addition to regular hikes, skinny dips and beach days that we run."
In Far North Queensland there were now cruises running, and Get Naked Australia was also aiming to kick off Great Barrier Reef snorkeling safaris and remote island camping.
"Lastly we’ve aligned with a tour company out of Darwin and we’re going to be working with them to provide road trips where skinny dipping in as many great outback swimming holes as possible is the goal," said Jones.
Jones’ “big goal” was to open up a naturist resort near the coast somewhere north of Sydney.
“We just need a few investors,” he said.
Public nudity is an offence in Australia when a person wilfully and obscenely exposes his or her person, according to
Go To Court.
To find a person guilty of the offence, police must prove that a person intentionally exposed themselves in an obscene way and did so within sight of a public place or school.
The maximum penalty for this offence is a six-month term of imprisonment and/or a fine.
Jones' grew fairly quickly from its founding, to attract more than 100,000 in its first year.
“We had dozens of people every day sending in their own photos from great places all over the country and stories about how the naked in nature experience made them feel,” Brendan said.
“I received emails from people who were with groups of mates camping and all decided to skinny dip.”
“I also received emails from people with mental health disorders and victims of domestic violence telling me how this concept of getting naked in nature has helped them reclaim their body which was very powerful stuff!”
Jones said the concept was to “nude up” in nature, either on your own or with your friends.
"The purpose was to have fun, help improve the way you see your own body and to help remove the stigma associated with nudity.
“That is, that nudity is immediately linked with something sexual. We want people to treat naked bodies as simply that, just a naked body. I don’t want a world where we never wear clothes. But I don’t want a world where people never get to experience the joy of swimming in the ocean naked because of body inhibitions.”
“I want people to feel comfortable with their bodies and I think Get Naked Australia offers a fun way to take the plunge and experience naturism for the first time."
Jones didn’t consider himself as a naturist or a nudist, instead, saying he was someone that practised naturism - and enjoyed the “odd skinny dip”.
To those wanting to give ‘naturism’ a whirl, Jones recommended finding “somewhere secluded” to swim naked.
“It’s the best feeling and you’ll want to do more of it! If you want to experience the social side of naturism then reach out, we’re looking to run more events in the future."
“But my favourite experience to date was the most recent Sydney Harbour Cruise that we threw. Three yachts, a DJ, plenty of inflatables and about 100 naked staff and guests just having a great time in Sydney Harbour ... all clothes free.”
