Family’s whio day out
It all started with a 10-year-old’s fascination with whio ducks and ended with a family trip to Nelson to see them up close and personal.
Last year, Taupo boy Joshua Diack, entered the Whio Forever competition and won it. As a prize he and his family got to see the whio/bue duck in the Wangapeka-Fyfe Whio Security site in Kahurangi National Park earlier this month.
To win the Whio Forever competition, Joshua had to play an online game which involved him navigating the challenges of life as a whio – swimming, flying, eating and avoiding stoats in order to ‘make it’ in the wild.
At the end of the game successful players got to enter a competition to be a whio ranger for a day.
The game proved highly popular, being played by thousands and there were 2000 entries for the competition.
Being into conservation, Joshua was very excited to learn he had won the Whio day out.
‘‘The day was planned with for him and one parent,’’ Joshua’s mum, Fiona Diack, said.
‘‘But when they heard we were planning a family holiday down to Nelson anyway they let us go out for the day.’’
Not only did Joshua get to enjoy being a ranger for a day, but so did his parents, three siblings and their babysitter.
‘‘It was pretty amazing,’’ Diack said. ‘‘We spent the whole day on the water and got see 13 whio ducks including some babies.’’
‘‘We spent the whole day on the water and got see 13 whio ducks including some babies.’’ Fiona Diack.