PACIFIC ISLAND HOBBIES

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23940, 6 May 1943, Page 3

PACIFIC ISLAND HOBBIES

| ZEALAND AIRMEN \ OFF DUTY The similarity that characterises Air Force duties in both the south Pacific and New Zealand is the antithesis of • fig manner in which spare time is - snent in the two locations. Off-duty .! hours of the Royal New Zealand Air Force personnel in “the islands” is snent in a variety of ways—coconut retrieving, butterfly collecting, crabvnmtine, souveniring, outdoor talking ■| natures at night, and, of course, in writing home. Many of these divercions of course, are strictly limited by locality, f ew islands offering the full hill but on the other hand, no island being without some sideline. Newcomers to the area are invariably fascinated by what, at first sight. Spears to be an endless supply of free coconuts, and the unprecedented opportunity of sampling the milk of the creen coconut. Those which fall to the ground are usually rotten, however, while those on the top of the tree are ' of little more use because of their inaccessibility. Nevertheless, throwing ; sticks, lassoing, and the forming of human ladders as means of securing the tH*’* are var yi n g suc]iy collecting is the unusual hobd>' of many Royal New Zealand Air Force members in the Pacific areas. The regions abound with unusual and magnificent specimens alJmost as large as birds. It is somewhat paradoxical to find men, who in their duty hours work on aero engines or occupy the air gunner’s turret of an aircraft, spending their spare time laying out a collection of butterflies that ® 1.1 L w /\1 «rtVx 4* 4- a icii

would bring delight to a naturalist. Crab-hunting, on the other hand, at-

tracts the more rugged type of individual who finds delight in blasting the huge coconut crabs from their rock lairs on the shore. S In areas nearer the battle zone, wrecked Japanese aircraft attract a large following of souvenir hunters, pieces of duralumin from wrecked enemy aircraft are deftly fashioned into wrist watch bands, and pieces of broken plastic glass from windscreens are cut into unusual necklaces, the latter usually finding their way back to New Zealand. Other hobbies include lizard collecting and tropical gardening, the latter offering new problems to even the most experienced gardeners. Irrespective of their nature, however, these Pacific island hobbies have an incalcuable value as a boost to morale.