experience of a suntrecker member

See the main website at www.suntreckers.org.uk

Although I’ve been a naturist for most of my adult life, Liz’s first venture was a visit to the naturist beach at Studland in Dorset during our first holiday together after meeting in 1997. Although she had first time nerves, within minutes she was comfortable with her first experience and I had a job to persude her to get dressed and leave the beach as the setting sun disappeared behind the sand dunes! Since then she hasn’t looked back.
Some years before, with my previous wife, I had been a member of a naturist club with it’s own grounds, but because Liz and I enjoyed touring around seeing new places with our caravan, we didn’t want to spend every weekend in the same surroundings, so in the summer of 2000 we joined Suntreckers.
Arriving at our first rally with nervous trepidation, the rally officer greeted us with a smile and welcome cuppa, helped us pitch up, and made us feel at home. During that first weekend, despite some adverse weather, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, settling in and making many friends, in games of boule, invites to join impromptu cuppa’s, etc, as well as the more organised social gatherings, such as the coffee morning, evening bbq, etc, nattering away on a multitude of topics, some serious, some full of laughter until well into the night.
That first weekend convinced us that joining Suntreckers was money well spent, and by the time we left on Sunday evening we were looking forward to the next rally.
In the remaining months of that summer season managed to attend 9 more rally’s, although each one was run on the same lines, the different venues, different rally officers, and different members we met, meant plenty of variety.
Although Suntreckers run a full 12 month rallying program, the only winter one we attended in our first year was the New Year rally, held at a naturist club near Wisbech. With snow falling and temperatures near freezing I don’t know what pleased us more, the welcome handshake of the rally officer, or the heat from the roaring log burner in the club house.
Some might say that a rally costing £50+ is far too dear, but at new year you could spend that same money just on new years eve in a pub or night club.
Here on the rally we enjoyed the hospitality of the club for 5 nights, with electric hook ups, sauna, and all the other facilities, various get-togethers for fun quiz’s, or relaxed chat with friends. On New Years eve we had a fancy dress dinner and dance, bringing in the new year, finally getting to bed around 3am, after the best new year ‘do’ either of us had been to in years.
January the 1st was a quiet day with a few members nursing hangovers!
It seemed very sad when people started leaving and heading off home to various parts of the country, but this was a new year, with rally’s to look forward to.

We felt we had attended enough rallies, and got to know the system well enough to volunteer to be rally officers, and in July, almost 12 months to the day from attending our first rally, we hosted our first rally, having received around 20 bookings. Neither of us had any experience in this sort of thing, but we had been offered plenty of help from more experienced members, and everything went well, and we received a lot of appreciation for our efforts.
Running a rally is not a daunting task, and we now offer to run 4 or 5 per year, our way of returning some of the enjoyment we get from ‘trecking.
There are no obligations though, although volunteers to run rally’s are always welcome, many members can’t due to various private commitments

‘Treckers can be an inventive bunch, and when the sun fails to shine the rain dampens everything except the spirit - Gazebo’s and tarpaulins appear from nowhere and nomadic looking shelters ‘grow’, so that the social life can continue until the sun smiles down again.
On the occasions that the sun gets to warm – (yes, even in the UK) – like the mystical crop circles, ‘swimming pools’ have been known to appear in the middle of fields! It’s amazing sometimes what ‘treckers can find in the depths of a caravan locker!!

On the whole, Liz and I attend field rallies – purely because they can be so much cheaper than those held at club sites, - but we have attended some of the rally’s run at club sites, having the advantage and attraction of facilities such as swimming pools, restaurants, saunas, etc, The annual rally program includes many club’s around the country. For historical interest it is hard to beat TNC, on the grounds of an old coalmine retaining many of its character as well as wooded walks.
Other clubs we visit vary from Tara in the South West, Aztecs in the South East, Heritage in the South Midlands, Blackthorns in the East
Midlands, Broadlands in Norfolk, White Rose in Yorkshire, and many
others.

In between field sites and club sites there are the commercial campsites, like St Annes in Dorset, always a popular rally venue which often gets fully booked long before its date because of it’s location.
Tything Barn in South West Wales is another popular commercial campsite, with acres of natural land to wonder round freely on a river estuary.

We love the variety of folk we meet, and never cease to be amused or astounded by the activities that rally officers can come up with.
From lazy rally’s where even a game of boule seems energetic to rambles, from tea and biscuits to full English breakfast cooked on a communal bbq.
From boule to bat and trap (Huh? What’s that?) – well it’s a medieval form of cricket, what else !!
One of Liz’s biggest surprises since entering the world of naturism is the open attitude and lack of discrimination she has seen.
Liz is disabled and was worried about her numerous medical scars and her lack of weight, but ‘Treckers, like all naturists, see the person, not the physical form. Be you fat thin, tall short, less-abled or a specimen of sporting health, whether you go to work in an Armani suit or a boiler suit, you are accepted as who you are. Naturism for Liz has been as therapeutic as a doctor’s prescription.

The highlight of Suntreckers rally diary is the summer gala rally, usually held in the midlands to be as central as possible for a nationwide membership to attend. It’s the ‘biggie’ of the year when a huge marquee is hired, so whatever the weather, the fun goes on. A couple of hours on the Sunday afternoon are taken up by the business of the AGM, but the rest of the 5 days include boule tournaments, a members camping gear auction, contests, quiz’s, and the fancy dress dance with a disco or live entertainment on Saturday evening.
Although Suntreckers is a nationwide club, we live in the midlands so we usually attend midland rally venues, but we have been ‘out of our area’ so to speak, and attended rallys in Suffolk Essex, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall.
The gala rally brings many members together, from all areas, and a good chance to meet up with friends and acquaintances from other area’s, members we may not have seen for months, or even years, but the camaraderie and friendship always surfaces over a cup of tea, or glass of wine, and makes it a really enjoyable event.

Besides the UK comings and goings, Liz and I have attended a few of the holiday rallies in mainland Europe.

In 2002 we exchanged our caravan for a motorhome, and within a couple of days of taking delivery of our new toy we set off for a holiday in France. Many of us go abroad for holidays, and with foreign languages, etc, etc, and with no disrespect to our partners, on occasions we get a little bored with our own company.
We planned our holiday around the rally at Creuse nature in central France – a favourite with ‘Treckers. A lazy week in our own good time to get there, 8 days on the rally, and a week to meander our way home again. We had a great time, despite a few of days of very ‘un-French’ summer weather, when naturism was the last thing on our minds! Brrrrrr!!
Coats, hats, and scarves took over from sun blessed skin for those days, but the weather did not spoil the occasion, and the bbq’s went ahead!
The following year Liz and I organised a rally in Holland – the first for Suntreckers – and officiated over it.
That first one was quite early in the year, so that members attending could visit the Spring Bulb and Flower Festival at Keukenhof. Wow, were we surprised, as were our Dutch hosts at Starnmeer naturist club, because we had 10 days of wall to wall sunshine.
We made some good friends in Holland, and they asked us back the following year – as long as we brought the sunshine again!!
The following year Liz and I attended a rally in Southern Germany, in very high temps and sunny skies, experiencing the sights of the Black Forrest and Rheinfall in Switzerland, before heading up to Holland again to hold our 2nd rally there, with, as promised, 10 days of sunshine.
Whether just sitting relaxing, on our own, or joining in with get-togethers, or getting gentle exercise and evening up the suntan in a game of boule, Liz and I are glad we joined.

Since becoming ‘Treckers, we’ve combined our touring with our naturism, and made many friends, some we see often, some rarely.
We are lucky that we can attend rallys most weekends, we always look forward to them, and always end up laughing !!
Thank you for reading our blog.
If you are an ‘old hand’ at naturism, new to it, or just interested, if you enjoy camping, with a motorhome, a caravan, a trailer tent, or a tent, give Suntreckers a try. You won’t regret it.Liz and Ian.

For more info about Suntreckers see their website at www.suntreckers.org.uk