Northland mother Deborah Patterson (second from right) with her family.Photo / Supplied
A Northland family is heading on a "dream" trip to Rarotonga after winning a radio competition.
On Friday, Whangārei local Deborah Patterson won Jono & Bens "5 words for 5K" on The Hits Breakfast show.
Patterson won $5000 by correctly guessing 5 words in a game of word association live on air.
All five of Patterson's association word guesses exactly matched host Ben's, winning her the $5k.
The matching words were Justin Bieber, Whittaker's chocolate, spa pool, and Jono and Ben.
The win was a great start to the school holidays for the Parua Bay mother of three, who was waiting in the car outside their school when she spoke to the Advocate.
The kids are nine, 13 and 15 years old, and Patterson said they were overjoyed by the win.
"They were over the moon, it was just a great day," Patterson said.
The celebrations continued throughout the day as it was her son Ashton's birthday the day she called up and won.
Patterson said the money will go toward a family trip to sunny Rarotonga that she had been dreaming about.
"The sooner we go the better, probably early next year," said Patterson.
"The Hits team was so thrilled," said Northland The Hits day announcer Charmaine Soljak.
Patterson is a longtime listener and caller of The Hits radio station and was at home when she decided to try her luck and ring up.
"Deborah enters every big competition The Hits runs," said Soljak.
The station has callers from all over the country competing in the competition over the week.
"Northlanders love to compete against the rest of the country and show their true blue colours," said Soljak.
Jono and Ben at The Hits have been giving out a guaranteed $5K each day this week, thanks to GAS Petrol Service Stations.
Jono and Ben are on The Hits Breakfast 6 am – 9 am weekday mornings, 95.6 FM Whangārei, Far and Mid-North, 106.1 FM Russell and 105.9 Doubtless Bay.
Northland Waste has been recognised for its people-focused growth in this year's awards.