From Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auckland_Anniversary_Day Auckland Anniversary Day is a public holiday observed in the northern half of the North Island of New Zealand , being the area's provincial anniversary day . It is observed throughout the historic Auckland Province , even though the provinces of New Zealand were abolished in 1876. The modern area of observation includes all of Auckland , Northland (where it is known instead as Northland Day [ citation needed ] ), Waikato , Bay of Plenty and Gisborne Regions , as well as some parts of the Manawatu-Wanganui and Hawke's Bay Regions north of the 39th parallel . The holiday usually falls on the Monday closest to 29 January, the anniversary of the arrival of William Hobson , later the first Governor of New Zealand, in the Bay of Islands in 1840. [1] ...