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My former home town back in New Zealand hit the headlines over the past week, as it found itself in the middle of a High Court dispute.
Quite unintentionally, of course.
The town (or city, depending on who you talk to and how biased they may be) of Upper Hutt is to Wellington (New Zealand’s capital city) as perhaps Bluffton is to Fort Wayne. Many residents from the Hutt Valley (Upper and Lower Hutt) work in Wellington, and to people in most other parts of the country, they are outer suburbs of Wellington, although local residents regard themselves as part of separate communities.
Like Bluffton, Upper Hutt has a river running through — well actually beside — it. The river doesn’t actually bisect the main street, so much as flow around the edges.
Indeed, according to the official Upper Hutt Web site:
“Nestled by the Hutt River — unique in the world for its pristine condition and trout fishing grounds despite flowing through two cities — Upper Hutt is set amongst bush-clad hills with easy access to recreational pursuits ranging from quiet native forest and riverside walks, fishing and hunting, tramping and mountain biking.
“It is the home of the internationally-recognized Royal Wellington Golf Club at Heretaunga and the Wellington (horse) Racing Club at Trentham. The annual Karapoti mountain-biking event also attracts competitors from around the world.
“The city is renowned for its many parks, recreation areas like the prize-winning Maidstone Max, H2O Xtream and rural attractions which range from both native and exotic birds, animals to public gardens, art and heritage areas.”
It was also host to about five of the locations for the three “Lord of the Rings” movies, but they are no longer mentioned on the Web site.
And, it has (or at least, when I was there, had) a nudist club, which appears to be what has got it in the news. (Members prefer to call themselves “naturalists.”)
The club is situated just north of the town - maybe four or five miles north, near the Akatarawa hills. Just far enough out in the country not to be noticed, and very secluded so that if you are driving past, you wouldn’t know it unless you do actually know it.
(The main highway through to the Wairarapa region passes well within 100 yards of the club’s premises, so literally thousands of people do drive past on a daily basis.)
When I first moved to Upper Hutt in the early 1980s, one of the guys I used to work with was the “caretaker” there. He denied that he was an actual member, and although he wouldn’t tell us how he got the “deal,” he had managed to arrange a sort of “free lodging in return for doing odd-jobs” deal.
We were never quite sure about the arrangement, and our suspicions were heightened when the local newspaper did a feature on the club, and there on the front page was a rear view photo of Alan, au natural, pushing his lawn mower as he tended to his “caretaker” duties.
(Alan doubled as Santa Claus come Christmas time, so he wasn’t exactly “the shape” you would normally associate with a “poster boy” for such a club.)
We (a group of us from work) visited Alan at his home several times, although he never extended an invitation when the club was having one of its meetings.
I must admit, it was a fantastic location for a home!
Perusing Television New Zealand’s Web site yesterday (Tuesday) I noticed a story about a “Wellington man” in court after cycling nude on a country road near Upper Hutt, which reminded me of all this and perked my interest.
According to TVNZ, a Wellington man fined for cycling nude on a country road has had his conviction and sentence quashed by the High Court, but the court is warning people not to take it as an indication they can do the same.
The gentleman was reportedly cycling nude on Akatarawa Road near Upper Hutt last March when a woman stopped and called police to report what she considered to be offensive behavior.
When police arrived, the self-confessed naturalist said he was happy to cover up and did so by putting on a G-string.
He later found himself in court and was fined $200 — a fine which he refused to pay, instead taking the issue to the High Court in Wellington.
In a decision released on Tuesday, (Monday U.S.-time) Justice Denis Clifford noted the court initially translated the level of offence caused to the woman who complained as being “quite concerning,” rather than being “disgusting.”
Justice Clifford says there were various levels of offensiveness when it came to nudity and suggested cycling on a country road could be considered less offensive than, for example, walking naked along a public footpath.
While Justice Clifford allowed the appeal, he said “this judgement does not mean that nude cycling cannot constitute offensive behavior.” In other situations, the circumstances surrounding nudity would have to be weighed up by the courts.
Justice Clifford also noted that the man’s ride had coincidently been on World Nude Bike Day, and could possibly be seen as an expression of opinion of support in that context.
(A search of the internet tells me that mid-June is usually the time for World Nude Bike Day, although as June is winter in New Zealand, perhaps the event is celebrated differently “down under.”)
No pun intended - and yes, I did have to look!
by FRANK SHANLY
frank@news-banner.com
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