Honolulu look-see DPR/TV/1606

After nearly three weeks of strenuous training with American troops, one hundred and twenty Australian soldiers in Hawaii on an exchange exercise, found time to enjoy themselves. The fabled Pacific islands of the Hawaiian group turned on all their charm for the Diggers from the second-fourth Battalion, based at Townsville, Qld. Gunner Michael Collyer of Orange, New South Wales, and Lance Corporal Bob Harrison of Deniliquin, New South Wales, took in the sights of Honolulu...including the famous Waikiki Beach. It was off Waikiki that a group of Diggers really came into their own in the perfect surging conditions. A group took to the waves in an outrigger canoe and found that surfing the fifty foot craft back in to the beach was a little different from a board at Bondi or Coolangatta... Back in town it was time for sightseeing, and a Polynesian girl in a canoe caught the attention of Private John O'Leary of Townsville... When the music and dancing started, it wasn't long before the Diggers joined in for a traditional hula. Corporal Peter Johnson of Killarney Heights, NSW, and Sapper Trevor Duckett of Royal Park, SA, were first in with the dancers... Private John O'Leary of Townsville gets in for a real close-up picture of a local girl. Feeding killer whales and seals proved another diversion for the diggers who all voted that Army life can be great... Also identified: 2nd Lieutenant Mel Mansfield of Melbourne, Vic; Private (Pte) Geoff Ross of Newcastle, NSW; Pte Nigel McReaddie of Mosman, NSW; Dianna Pugh of Honolulu, Assistant Curator; Pte Ross Jones of Townsville, Qld; Miss Darcie, Park Assistant; Pte Phillip Maher of Braidwood, NSW; Pte Graham Davis of Wollongong, NSW.