Rubber ducks ready to hit start line in Rotorua for good cause

Westpac's Lena Staunton, left, and Ian Baker with hundreds of ducks ready to race. Photo / Stephen Parker

Local ducks down at Hamurana Springs will have their water invaded on Sunday - but it will all be for a good cause.

The Westpac BayTrust Rescue Helicopter Duck Race and Fun Day will see 1200 rubber ducks dropped into the water as part of the annual fundraiser.

Westpac Rotorua Central bank manager Ian Baker said more than 700 rubber ducks had been sold since the beginning of May, and there would be at least a couple hundred available on the day.

The Fun Day will also include a sausage sizzle, a raffle and a "guess the number of Jaffas" competition.

Motion Entertainment will also be running some activities.

"People enjoyed it last year, seeing ducks floating down the stream, and our Rotorua community is very generous with prizes."

Baker said he enjoyed seeing people on the day having a good time and he loved doing the event on behalf of the BayTrust Rescue Helicopter.

"We are a big tourism community, a mountain biking community, have a lot of hunting and fishing activities, and have outlying areas so I think it's a fantastic service.

"It seems to be very popular in the community and we are happy to support it."

BayTrust Rescue Helicopter base manager and pilot Ben Fry said because they were a charity, any fundraising was appreciated.

"It's a great event we've got running. This is now our third year and it's going from strength to strength. It's one of our major fundraisers run locally."

He said there were a lot of awesome prizes which covered everyone in the family.

Prizes include a 15-minute scenic chopper ride for a family of four in the BayTrust Rescue Chopper, a family pass to all attractions at Motion Entertainment and a $200 helloworld voucher.

Running the helicopter and its services cost about $1.5 million a year and half of that comes from community sponsorship, he said.

"It's nice to get the community all together for the same cause and having a bit of fun.

"The more support we get from the community the more likely it is going to be able to sustain the area moving forward for future years.

"We can't do what we do without the support of the community."