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At last ... the sun has given 2007 a warm send-off, and Matthew Matich is flat out enjoying as much of it as he can. The Dargaville teenager's backflip entertained onlookers yesterday at Haruru Falls, near Paihia in Northland, and the weather forecasters' tips promise holiday delight for the rest of the country.
Much of the North Island basked in sun and temperatures as high as 27C yesterday, and the MetService is forecasting mostly fine weather for today after some scattered showers early on.
Fine weather is expected to welcome in the New Year for most of the country as a ridge of high pressure sweeps across the North Island.
That's music to the ears of the thousands of holidaymakers who have flocked to resorts and beaches for the New Year break.
Hotspots such as the Coromandel Peninsula are expected to swell to 20 times their usual population.