Creaming the opposition the UCOL way

Whanganui UCOL external relations officer Katarina Hina takes one for her team.

Whanganui UCOL staff and students buried their faces in whipped cream, joined teams for a tug of war and worked up some good belches in Orientation Week fun on Tuesday.

Awhi Kingi drank a can of lemonade to help her along and her mighty belch won the staff vs students competition. It was part of a week of activities to help people discover what the polytech offers, campus manager Bronwyn Paul said.

Ms Kingi mastered belching as a boarder at Turakina Maori Girls' College, where the girls had burping competitions. "You need to take it into your diaphragm. You need to take it deep," the bachelor of nursing student said.

Students and staff join in a tug of war.

The lunch-hour games used the Whanganui UCOL forecourt as a venue. Students lined up for a free sausage sizzle and master of ceremonies Lux Adams coaxed them into tugs of war and took part himself in a team contest to suck all the whipped cream off a plate, without using hands.

This year there are 804 students enrolled in Whanganui UCOL so far, 150 up on last year.
There are two new courses, and big enrolments in the U-Skills programme for students still at secondary school.