Well... this summer in nz seems like the year of the thong. For females anyway. Beaches are packed!

Hey, Firefly, tell us more! Roughly what percentage of men and women are wearing thong bikinis? Tell us which beaches you went to and how it went. Since it's winter here in the northern USA and it's 28F (-5C) outside, some of us could use some good news!

You're lucky mbannon, it's 6F (-14C) in southern New England this morning. Let's hear it, firefly and don't spare us the details!!

I live at the top of the south island in new Zealand. Men... still no move towards thongs but women it really seems to be the year.

About women's thongs in NZ?? https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/gender-and-society/300499157/more-butts-on-the-beaches-is-a-win-for-feminism

@sailor250, Thanks. Very good article about thonging. The writer (female) says all : - opportunity to thong in Brazil but not in New Zealand in the 90s - feeling of freedom when thonging She asks the good question : what does girls thonging mean ? - Are young women finally beginning to embrace their bodies, feeling OK about the world seeing them as they are? - Is it just another trend, another whim of the male gaze ? She chose to think positively : freedom of expression, victory for feminism. OK ! And conversely, what does it mean for men ? Men wear boardshort (sometimes briefs). Doest it mean that men have less freedom than women to wear what they want ?

My impression of the summer so far....

1. Males seem to be in much shorter swimwear. The long board shorts don't seem to be around.

2. More males in briefs.

3. Much more Women in thongs and gstrings.

4. Even the standard women's bikini much smaller than last year.

5. ONE thing I have really noticed is more mothers wearing gstring with there daughters. 

Planning on going to Taupo soon and will be staying at the Hilton Lake Taupo. Has anyone had any experience thonging there by any chance? They have a pool, steam room and fitness center. I'm thinking of having a work out and then having a swim and sit in the steam room with my TEAMM8 swim thong. If it's early enough I think it will be quiet enough that no one will really be there. I'm also going to Wairakei Terraces but will stick to my Slugger swim briefs. Wouldn't want to run into someone described in this article: https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/01/g-string-tog-debate-divides-taup-as-local-mums-call-for-return-to-modest-bathers.html

The trip to Taupo and staying at Hilton Lake Taupo was great. I wore my Sluggers swim briefs at the Wairakei Terraces with no stares or comments. Everyone else was wearing pretty conservative swimwear there. Mostly tourists and older people. There were two younger ladies that were wearing their bright coloured thong bottoms. One was even sitting up on a ledge with her knees to her chest which is a pretty exposed position. I'm guessing this was to try and cool off from the hottest pool at the place. The Hilton Lake Taupo has great facilities including a heated pool, spa, fitness centre, steam room and sauna. It's all located close to one another so it's really easy to move between the different facilities. I'm an early riser so went to get a quick workout in the morning then a swim + spa + steam room session. I wore my TEAMM8 swim thong under my shorts while working out and after went out pool side and put my clothes on a lounger. It was pretty cold so a brisk walk to the pool steps and then a couple of laps of the pool. Moved to the spa for 10 minutes and then headed into the steam room for 10 minutes. I did a couple of rotations of that and then towelled off and headed back up to my room. It was early so it was only me out there and was surprised no one else came out to get some exercise in. There are cameras by the pool so I'm sure the staff saw me and no one came out to say anything. Seems a bit of a cop out that I did it early with no one else around however I still really enjoyed it. Felt great!

I see that @underguy1 went to Polynesia Spa in the past in a thong. Has anyone else been there in a thong?

Recently went to Polynesian Spa in Rotorua. In short I enjoyed it in a thong and the few patrons and staff that were around were all fine with it. With regards to whether the facility staff are fine with it - it seems good. If it was more busy and some patrons complained not sure how the staff would handle it. The policy doesn't forbid thongs explicitly - it just mentions that it must be swimwear (not clothing). If people were interested in more I could write out a bit more about my experience.

Sure. The only time I had to go was late in the evening. Arrived around 9PM which is fine because they close at 11PM - you have to get out of the pools by 10:40PM. I went to the Deluxe Lake Spa side because I wanted to use the cold plunge and the cold shower. The other side is the Pavilion Adult Pools (12yrs+) which is cheaper. With the deluxe you also get access to towels, lockers and better shower amenities. After entering I had a quick look over the pools and saw there were about 10 people all up including a couple of kids (probably around 10yrs old). From there I went to get changed. There was someone showering but no one else in the change room. I got changed into my swim thong and grabbed a towel as I walked out. I wore a dark green swim thong I bought from Aliexpress a while ago. If 0 is conservative and 10 is minimal I would say my dark green swim thong is about a 6 or 7. The back triangle is decent in size and the waist straps are 1 inch wide. The front is pretty minimal and errs on the side of a bulge style. I have an older TEAMM8 thong that I prefer as the front is not bulge and more modest but the rear is much more minimal (smaller triangle and thinner waist straps). Also even though the TEAMM8 swim thong is lined it shows VPL quite a lot. I'm guessing it's the colour. On the way out of the change room I wrapped the towel around my waist. I did this because I was nervous and one of the kids was in the pool right outside the change room entrance. I went for the next pool over which is an alkaline pool with no one in it. This was after checking the far acidic pool by the cold plunge. There were a couple of older ladies in there chatting away loudly so I decided I'd go back and wait until they were done. While I was relaxing in the pool another kid was in the pool behind me with their dad playing around with a ball they had. 30 minutes later the ladies in the acidic pool got out and after using the cold plunge they went into the pool the child and dad were in. I got up out of the pool and walked to the acidic pool. This is when the child noticed and laughed at the sight of my bottom - there was nothing else said. I relaxed in the acidic pool for 15 minutes and then used the cold plunge and cold shower. The cold shower is in line of sight from every pool in the area so people would have definitely seen me - nothing was said. After getting back into the acidic pool and younger couple joined me. The water is a milky/cloudy colour because of the minerals however they would have noticed that my swimwear was minimal but probably not that it was a thong. I considered getting up to go to the cold shower while they were in there but I just waited and they left pretty soon after. Some more time passed and by then all the parents and kids had left only leaving the older ladies from earlier and myself. I needed some water and the fountain was by the change room entrance. The ladies were in the pool right by this water fountain and I thought about putting my towel around my waist but didn't. They were chatting away and as I was drinking from the fountain I expected them to stop talking after seeing my swimwear but they just kept talking. They definitely would have seen it for sure. So that was positive that they were unfazed by it. From there I kept moving between the alkaline pool, cold plunge, cold shower and acidic pool without a worry. On two occasions staff came out to check the pools. The first was a female and she looked over my way for a while - I'm guessing she noticed the minimal swim wear but I was seated sideways so not sure if she knew it was a thong. The second was a male that came towards me as I was getting out of the pool to go shower and exit. He was telling me that the pools were closing in 10 minutes. As he looked he noticed my swimwear from the front and he did seem to look up - almost in embarrassment. I thanked him and walked past him toward the change rooms and he followed - nothing was said.

One other thing I would mention is that the Pavilion Adult Pools looked to be more busy at the same time. I was able to see over to that side when going into the cold plunge. Since it's cheaper I'd assume it's more popular with both the locals and tourists. I did see another man in swim briefs when looking over. My experience was good and judging by how the staff didn't react I would say that it's thong friendly. However going on a busier day where there are more people it could be different. I'd like to think that even if patrons did complain staff wouldn't do anything as it doesn't violate any of their policies.