Australia

Get Naked In Australia!! In Winter 2020 we decided to celebrate the New Year by taking a trip to a destination that was on both of our bucket lists. Australia! What an adventure! It is a literal paradise for pristine uncrowded beaches and epic vistas. Nature reigns supreme in Australia, and among these majestic backdrops lives some of the friendliest people in the world.

The first thing on our list was to check out the world famous Cobblers Beach in Sydney. Sydney has a very unique multi-fingered harbor where cliffs and bluffs reach into deep blue waters to form coves, beaches, caves and lookouts. Coming from the U.S., the idea of having a nude beach that is right in the middle of an urban area is incredibly unique. Most nude beaches in the U.S. are marginalized, set fat away from anything to protect people from the evils of skin. For a bit of perspective, Florida is a 400 mile long peninsula boasting 1,350 miles of coastline and has 4 nude beaches. Sydney, by comparison, is about 20 miles wide and has 5 nude beaches within these city limits….Cobblers, Obelisk, Lady Jane, Little Congwong and Washaway. That is pretty amazing. Not even Europe manages to integrate nude beaches so seamlessly into their urban settings.

We were lucky to have formed a friendship with some of the Get Naked Australia crew prior to our visit. They generously made a drive to meet us at Cobblers Beach and introduced us to the Australian version of naturist life. We enjoyed catching up, sharing stories and going on a tour of Cobblers Beach and the surrounding area. We also got the chance to make some new friends and great memories. Get Naked Australia (GNA) is a very active group mostly focused in the New South Wales/Sydney area. They have a commanding online following and for good reason. They have managed to make naturism more accessible by removing the stigma associated with labels and focusing on the simplicity of enjoying nature, sun and water without the constraints of clothing.

As if Sydney having 5 nude beaches wasn’t enough, there are plenty more official nude beaches on the outskirts of the city including the famous Samurai Beach and Birdie Beach. There are also an innumerable amount of empty natural pristine beaches that are not easy to reach, but for that reason usually have no visitors. So if you have a beach all to yourself, why wear a swimsuit? it is important to be respectful at all times, but as you might have gathered, the attitude towards nudity in NSW Australia is more relaxed than most places in the world.

Our next excursion took us to Birdie Beach about one hour north of Sydney. What an amazing beach, with golden sands stretching about 1/2 mile with a large rocky outcropping at its far end. This ended up being our favorite beach of the trip, we loved it so much we visited it twice during our 10 days in Australia.

Not far from Birdie Beach is a little spot referred to as Cave Beach, or Ghosties Beach. We are from Florida so the idea of having a cave on a beach is an irresistible combination. So, we had to go! The beach was not marked and parking was a bit cryptic, but thankfully Google Maps knows where the cave is at. Just a tip if you do decide to go here, park in the neighborhood, not the mountain/park. The hike is not challenging, but it is about 1 mile along a pretty coastline. When we arrived there was one other couple there, and they left after 20 minutes, leaving the entire beach and cave for us to explore. We had some creative ideas, so we took some cool pictures and watched as the tide began to fill the cave with more and more water. We’ve seen what happens to pirates in caves, so we moved on to more adventures. No treasure chest found.

Some days were cooler than others and not quite beach days. Though we loved exploring Sydney, we love nature more. Blue Mountains was suggested to us by the GNA crew, so we headed on up for a day in the mountains. The views were magnificent! Apparently this was a big mining town many years ago, and it still holds a certain “mountain town” charm. We did the popular skylift tour, with hikes that included amazing views of the mountains, valleys and giant waterfalls. We also found some off-the-beaten path places like Lincoln’s Rock which felt al little like standing on the edge of the world.

In case you haven’t noticed, we love photography and capturing cool photos in unique natural settings. So, we decided to get an early start and hike down to the Figure 8 Pools. The Google images make it seem otherworldly, and it was, just not in the way we expected. The hike was not an easy one at all, especially being from the flatlands of Florida. It was kind of like climbing stairs for 3 miles….you know, a good cardiac workout. Just as planned, we were the first to arrive at the beach. But then we had to wait over an hour, because the waves were so huge they were cascading onto the rocky platform that needed to be navigated in order to reach the Figure 8 Pools. When we did reach the spot, it was simply buried in water all morning, but watching the volume of entire swimming pools launch into the air was an exhilarating spectacle in its own right. Once again we ended up with the whole rocky beach to ourselves, this time in a place that looked like it belonged on an episode of Star Trek.

Every good vacation leaves you wanting more, and this one was no exception. Where else can you turn your winter into summer and spend time with great people in an epic natural setting? We definitely plan to go back and continue our exploration of this unforgettable country. Australia is easy to fall in love with. If you ever get the chance to check it out, DO IT! …and give yourself 2 weeks minimum.

Thanks for joining us on our Australian Adventure!