It's looking pretty good for outdoor activities over the upper North Island with the long weekend looming.

No major weather systems are in the pipeline and high pressure will dominate northern New Zealand.

'The good weather news is lots of sun about for the long weekend, after some early morning cloud in a few spots. There could be some patchy drizzle for the likes of Waikato and Waitomo on Saturday and the risk of a shower on Monday south of Hamilton,” says forecaster Cameron Coutts.

'Winds will also be on the lighter side, though good sailing conditions are expected for the Auckland Anniversary Regatta as southwesterlies freshen about the Waitemata in the afternoon.”

Nelson and Buller also have a long weekend, and Nelson is looking at three days of sunshine.

'Buller is not too bad either,” says Cameron, 'just cloudy on Sunday followed by a period of rain there Sunday night.”

However, it's more of the same changeable weather for the south of the country, with yet another front moving onto the southwest of the South Island on Sunday, accompanied by heavy rain.

This rainfall adding to already saturated soils in the west and south. Northwest winds also build on Sunday with gales possible in the east, up as far as Wairarapa.

These northwest winds also bring some summer heat into Hawkes Bay as temperatures head into the low thirties.