If you're one of the many New Zealanders back at work today, it's time to get the calendars out, circle some public holidays, and stretch those annual leave days as far as possible
Are you back at the office for 2024? Me too!
Are you already thinking about the next break from work? Also, me too!
If you love a long weekend, 2024 presents a couple of opportunities for a four-day break, as well as some longer stretches away from work that use minimal leave.
Here's how the public holidays fall this year so you can start planning that time away.
Taking advantage of regional days
A few of the regional anniversary days lend themselves to especially long breaks with fewer days of annual leave.
People living at the top of the country and those in Nelson can once again enjoy an extended holiday given their regional holidays' close proximity to Waitangi Day (February 6).
Both Auckland Anniversary Day and Nelson Anniversary Day fall on Monday, January 29 in 2024, with Waitangi Day falling a little over a week later.
This means people in those areas can potentially get 11 days away from work (including the weekends) using just five days of leave.
Meanwhile, the people of Otago can also enjoy a longer break using fewer days of leave, with Easter falling close to the region's anniversary day in 2024.
Otago Anniversary Day is observed on Monday, March 25, with Easter beginning on Friday, March 29. This means people in the region can get 10 days off work (including the weekends) using just three days of annual leave, from March 26-28.
Waitangi Day
With Waitangi Day landing on a Tuesday in 2024, workers can take Monday, February 5 off and gift themselves an easy four-day weekend.
An Easter bonus for the south
Easter will be observed from Friday, March 29 to Monday, April 1 in 2024.
With Southland Anniversary Day falling on Tuesday, April 2, those in the far south will get an extra long Easter break this time around.
Anzac Day
Anzac Day (April 25) falls on a Thursday in 2024, offering up another opportunity for a cheeky four-day weekend if people take the Friday off work.
An extra long Labour Weekend in Hawke's Bay
Labour Day is Monday, October 28 this year.
With Hawke's Bay Anniversary Day on Friday, October 25, people in that region again get an extra long Labour Weekend.
Other dates for the calendar:
King's Birthday falls on Monday, June 3 in 2024.
Matariki falls on Friday, June 28 in 2024.
You may not be able to stretch these two public holidays out further but you can at least try and get the jump on some long weekend accommodation before it all books out.
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Live Q&A: Garden maintenance with Crewcut
This Wednesday, we're having another Neighbourly Q&A session. This time with John Bracewell from Crewcut.
John Bracewell, former Black Caps coach turned Franchisee Development Manager and currently the face of Crewcut’s #Movember campaign, knows a thing or two about keeping the grass looking sharp—whether it’s on a cricket pitch or in your backyard!
As a seasoned Crewcut franchisee, John is excited to answer your lawn and gardening questions. After years of perfecting the greens on the field, he's ready to share tips on how to knock your garden out of the park. Let's just say he’s as passionate about lush lawns as he is about a good game of cricket!
John is happy to answer questions about lawn mowing, tree/hedge trimming, tidying your garden, ride on mowing, you name it! He'll be online on Wednesday, 27th of November to answer them all.
Share your question below now ⬇️
Poll: When should the tree go up? 🎄
From what we've heard, some Christmas trees are already being assembled and decorated.
What are your thoughts on the best time to get your Christmas tree up?
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4.6% Second half of November
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43.6% 1st December
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17.5% A week before Christmas
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33.2% Whenever you wish
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1.1% Other - I'll share below
What's your favourite tomato recipe?
Kia ora neighbours. We know your tomato plants are still growing, but we're looking ahead to the harvest already! If you've got a family recipe for tomatoes, we'd love to see it and maybe publish it in our magazine to share with our readers. Send your recipe to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, and if we use it in the mag, you will receive a free copy of our February 2025 issue.