- June agreed to become a member of a naturist club shortly after marrying her husband, Bruce in 1963.
- She started feeling more comfortable showing her naked body and even ended up on the cover of a NZ naturist magazine.
- She has now been a naturist
- June Campbell-Tong, 80, from Wellington, NZ shares her story below.
My husband, Bruce, and I pulled up at the gate.
“I’m not sure I can do this,” I said, feeling physically sick.
“You’ll be fine,” Bruce replied.
It was October 1963, and we’d been married for a month.
We drove through the pine trees to a camping area where we parked the car.
Read more: We’re nudists! So, we had a nude wedding!
When we got out, Bruce took off all his clothes.
“Come on, let’s go,” he said.
It felt surreal to walk fully clothed behind him – completely starkers!
When Bruce and I had got engaged, he told me he was a member of the Canterbury Sun Club, a naturist club.
It wasn’t something I was interested in myself.
The trouble was, once we got married, Bruce was no longer allowed to continue his membership as a married man without his wife being a member.
So, tentatively, I agreed to accompany him to the club to check it out.
What am I doing? I thought as we walked along.
The first thing that struck me was the diversity of members.
There were people of different ages from babies to the elderly, all in the buff, playing sports or sitting by the pool.
Everyone was so welcoming even though I stood out like a sore thumb in all my clothes.
“You take your time,” a woman commented kindly.
People had sagging breasts, birthmarks and imperfect figures yet everyone appeared completely comfortable in their own skin.
It was refreshing.
“They all look so free,” I said to Bruce.
After a few more weeks of being a passive observer, I felt I was ready to strip off.
On my fourth visit, I quickly removed my clothes in the car and covered myself up with a towel.
But seeing everyone else walking up ahead stark naked, I decided to follow suit and left my towel behind.
At first, I felt self-conscious but after a few hours, I began to relax.
No-one even looked at me twice!
I enjoyed reading by the pool and even played table tennis in the buff.
The nudist world seemed more relaxed and free than the outside world, but for the next five years, I still felt a little awkward, like I was an outsider.
Then, in August 1968, I fell pregnant. That’s when I finally shed the last of my inhibitions.
On hot days, I rushed to the club to have the freedom of being without any clothes.
Walking around, with my naked belly on display, I felt connected to nature in the loveliest way.
And when I gave birth to my son, Oscar, in May 1969, I brought him to the club often to breastfeed him in public without fear of recrimination.
As he got bigger, he loved the freedom of being able to run around and swim without clothes.
Bruce sadly passed away in 1979 from a heart attack when he was only 50, but I continued my association with the club, even when I moved cities.
In 1982, my picture was even put on the cover of the now defunct NZ Naturist magazine, covered with pretty purple blooms.
It was a national publication, and for the first time people outside the naturism circle found out about my hobby, but I didn’t care.
By now, I was working in admin for the city council and if any of my colleagues saw it they didn’t say anything.
Being a naturist helped me accept who I was, as I was, with all my flaws and curves.
Even when I put on weight at various times in my life, it didn’t stop me going starkers.
In 1987, I was elected the first woman president of the New Zealand Naturist Federation, and I headed up bi-annual meetings.
Whenever I told friends about being a naturist, they were always curious.
“What do you do at the club?” a neighbour asked.
“We do gardening, swimming, relaxing; a lot of sports, too,” I replied.
People were shocked if I ever suggested they should give it a try.
“Oh no, it’s not for us,” they said, but I managed to convince a few friends to join me over the years.
Once Oscar left home, I often went nude around the house, too.
As years went by, people accepted naturism more although it was still wrongly associated with sex.
Naturism is not sexual; it’s about freedom, the choice to be ourselves and to embrace nature.
In May 2015, I met a fellow single naturist at the Wellington Naturist Club.
“I’ve always felt more comfortable without clothes than with them,” Pieter, 70, said.
“I couldn’t live without this lifestyle,” I replied.
We became good friends and have since visited naturist clubs in Australia, Spain, Croatia, France, Italy, America and South Africa.
Last October I realised something.
I’ve been a naturist for 60 years! I thought. That’s a long time taking your clothes off!
COVID caused an increase in numbers of naturists around the world as people could relax without their clothes at home during the lockdowns.
We see more younger people trying it these days, too, especially those in their 30s and 40s.
As far as I know, I am the longest standing female member of any naturist club in New Zealand.
When I shed my clothes all those years ago, I shed my inhibitions along with them. And I’ve never looked back.
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