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Auckland got the perfect anniversary weekend present yesterday - clear blue skies and a long, hot day.
Temperatures in the City of Sails reached 24C as a high pressure front saw the whole country bathed in sweltering summer sun.
It felt much hotter at the Viaduct, where an estimated 4000 people flocked to the first day of the Auckland Seafood Festival.
Spokeswoman Kathy Cunningham said ice cream was proving popular with festivalgoers, alongside fishier favourites like mussel fritters, paella and oysters.
Along Tamaki Drive, Mission Bay was packed with Aucklanders who hadn't joined the exodus for the long weekend.
"It's good for the kids to be outside and mothers can relax as well," said Mt Eden resident Pauline Malone.
Eighteen-year-old West Aucklander Janina Gould said the beach was the best place to spend a Saturday after a night out.
"The sun is a cure for the hangover."
Year 12 students Chris Wiggins and Clinton Kraidy used the fine weather to take their latest invention out for a spin, joined by pal Brock Cleary. "We just thought it'd be fun to cruise around on a couch so we mounted a $20 couch we bought on Trade Me on to a moped," said Wiggins.
In Taupo, temperatures were scorching and rubber was burning at the A1GP qualifying rounds. Thousands of petrolheads watched in 27C heat as Kiwi driver Chris van der Drift qualified sixth fastest in Black Beauty.
It was also 27C at Mystery Creek near Hamilton, where more than 20,000 people attended the alcohol-free Parachute festival.
The Christian event was serenaded by Kiwi headliner Dave Dobbyn and festivalgoers donated $60,000 for World Vision.
MetService forecaster Gerard Barrow said Central Otago and inland Canterbury were the hottest parts of the country yesterday, with temperatures of 33-35C. Taumarunui and Hastings were hottest in the North Island, both reaching 28C.
A cool southerly front is set to move over the South Island today and the North Island tomorrow. Another high, with balmy temperatures and clear skies, should be over the country by Friday.
