Tue 13 Dec 2005 In: Entertainment View at Wayback View at NDHA
Surprisingly, Auckland probably has more sex on site venues than Sydney and here's the low down on two of them, with more to come in a follow up review. The Wingate, in suburban Avondale, has a new steam sauna, very luxurious tiling job (a trifle slippery) and watch out for the steam issuing from under the lower seating. If you're standing there busy putting a smile on the face of someone on the upper bench then you could find your ankles getting a roasting. (No one is that masochistic, are they?) Also the acoustics are pretty loud, so anyone having a noisy orgasm almost brings the house down! This new steam room has a useful hallway entrance that helps you grow accustomed to the gloom (the main bit is dark and womb-like) so you can retire to the bench in this entrance area if the heat (and it is hot!) gets too much for you. Afternoons and weekends are the busiest, except for the evenings during the summer months when the Wingate's outdoor swimming pool trumps the other venues. Summer evenings by the pool can be rather idyllic, especially if you find the right company inside to keep you company poolside. Of course, if the pool's not your thing there's a bubbling jacuzi indoors with a good view of the showers (does that bother the shy guys? Hmmm.). The old steam room has been made over into a dry sauna, a long, airy space with sturdy benches, maybe a little close together, but then there's nothing wrong with falling into someone's lap is there? Unless you're King Kong that is. And what's more, there's light enough to enjoy the scenery - just! Yes, there are some minuses here - out the back the place is so stuffy I don't know how anyone manages to breathe - let alone find enough oxygen to have an orgasm! Up in those upper loft areas breathing is optional. But every now and then some helpful soul thinks to open the back door letting some air and a little extra light get into the place. There's a nice relaxed atmosphere, not too many noise sources competing with one another (except for that damn perky radio), and if you really want to get away from it all, try the downstairs pool room cum telly room - roomy and peaceful. And they've finally got some classy new extra toilets, too! Entrance begins at fourteen dollars but they operate a falling entrance rate policy so it gets cheaper the more often you go (or is that the more often you come?). And they give you a free Monday or Tuesday night offer after a certain number of visits. And parking (unlike the other venues) is abundant and free! They have their own large off-street car park so they're not competing for parking spaces with inner city growth spurts. Finally, the big question - How are they on safe sex? Well, there's a condom and lube in your locker and more available on request. There's posters and literature around the place and, yes, the message is definitely there. Lateshift, of all the venues, is absolutely positively streets ahead when it comes to atmosphere! You can feel as if you've wandered onto a movie set. Sort of Nightmare on Elm St meets Boogie Nights in central city Newton ... and they keep changing the maze and cubicle areas which is great fun once you've recovered from walking into a wall where there was no wall before. There's a couple of sling rooms (one includes a bath where I remember having a raunchy but sudsy time once with a molto spunky bear - ah, those were the days). These rooms can be hired for a small fee. There's a good porn telly room where you can lie about and watch four screens, and the glory hole room has to be one of the most glorious delights of the Auckland underworld! The sort of music that I don't like throbs away relentlessly but, I have to admit, is totally suited to the experience. And there's a urinal, too, if that's to your taste... You are welcomed by a large entrance lounge with pool tables and a chill out area with another four porn tellies throbbing away. Good, free internet access is available on three Imacs (though grrr I hate it when guys get on the net instead of getting out the back), and a small, extra telly area, with two couches, allows you to chose a channel and watch local or BBC news etc. Off the lounge is a television room proper where they watch Desperate Housewives on Tuesday nights and movies other nights (but it was packed at midnight with rugby supporters for the recent test on my last visit - even one brave bloke wearing an English rugby shirt!). There's free coffee, iced water and even iced herbal tea, Milo and herbal teas and loads of free mags - Up and Express. Why, there's even free breakfasts during holiday weekends! And the safe sex message is very much in sight. Literature, posters, and a large display area by one of the maze entrances remind you of the need to keep it up (safe sex, that is). The matey guy on the door (and the Lateshift guys are definitely the most affable of all the venue counter guys) hands you condom and lube when you pay your money down. And there's more available in the rooms and all around the place. With paper towels, too and a shower and douche kit if needed. Featured on the news recently (and attracting some new clientele as a result), Lateshift is a sex maze set-up not a sauna. So you keep your clothes on before you take them off - and man do some of the men there really know how to dress! Especially in summer when dressing down gets me up, up, up! As its name suggests, it's a late-night venue opening at 7pm and carrying on into the wee small hours ... and I do mean carrying on! Entrance is $14 ($8 happy hour from 7) but parking is becoming a bit of a problem because of all the local apartment development going on. -John Curry Note: GayNZ.com content editor Jay Bennie is the proprietor of Lateshift. However, this review was prepared independently by John Curry without reference to Jay. John Curry - 13th December 2005