But what happens when you wake up on Friday morning and you realise you forgot to buy brunch ingredients or hot cross buns for Easter brekky, and your local supermarket is closed? And if the kids get bored over what’s set to be a rainy holiday weekend, can you still take them out to the museum or the zoo to burn off some energy?
We’ve rounded up which shops, supermarkets, and holiday attractions are open over Easter weekend throughout New Zealand to save you a whole lot of googling.
When are the public holidays?
The only actual public holidays over Easter are Good Friday on April 7 and Easter Monday on April 10. Easter Sunday is not a public holiday, but it’s a restricted trading day - so some shops can open depending on their local council rules. Good Friday is both a restricted trading day and a public holiday.
Only shops selling certain goods are allowed to trade on Easter Sunday - those in the Auckland and Wellington regions include petrol stations, dairies, restaurants, takeaway joints and garden centres.
However, supermarkets, malls, clothing stores, electronics, hardware, sports and homeware stores must be closed.
The Christchurch City Council has an area exemption allowing shops in the city’s Arts Centre to open on Easter Sunday from 10am to 4pm. Elsewhere, the rules are pretty similar to other major cities - eateries, dairies, petrol stations, pharmacies, and souvenir shops can open.
When are supermarkets closed?
Major supermarkets will have slightly different trading hours over Easter.
All New World supermarkets are closed on Good Friday and most on Easter Sunday, but are open on Saturday and on Easter Monday, though hours vary between the stores. Check here for a full list. There are just two New World stores closed on Easter Monday - New World Railway Metro in Wellington and Onekawa in Napier.
All Pak’nSave stores are closed on Good Friday and most on Easter Sunday, but they all open again on Easter Monday. Check here for full details.
Countdown doesn’t have a full list of their stores’ opening hours, which will vary - the easiest way to find out when your local is open is to search in the location finder on their website.
Many cafes will be open with surcharges over Easter weekend. Photo / Getty Images
What cafes and local attractions are open over Easter?
Many cafes and restaurants throughout New Zealand are open over Easter with different hours than normal.
In Auckland, these include Morningside’s Crave Cafe - open both Good Friday and Easter Monday from 8am to 4pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 4pm, and central city staple Odette’s, open Friday to Monday from 8am to 4pm. You can find a more detailed list of dining options here.
Just don’t forget that many cafes and eateries will add a surcharge to your bill on a public holiday.
Auckland Museum will operate under its Sunday opening hours of 9am to 5pm, while Auckland Zoo will be open for normal hours from 9.30am to 5.30pm. Motat is open from 10am-4pm throughout the weekend/
In the Wellington region, the city’s libraries are closed on Friday and on Easter Sunday - but if you’re looking for fun activities on the weekend, the Wellington Museum and Cable Car Museum are open from 10am to 4pm on Sunday.
