Why do Easter dates hop around?

Unlike Christmas or Valentine’s Day, Easter doesn’t fall on the same date every year. Sometimes it’s in March, other times it’s in April. That’s because Easter is what’s called a movable feast—its date changes each year. 

The reason? It all comes down to the moon.

Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon—that’s the first full moon following the vernal equinox, which marks the start of spring. The vernal equinox usually happens on 19, 20 or 21 March (in 2025, it falls on 20 March). 

Depending on when the next full moon appears after that, Easter can land on any Sunday between 22 March and 25 April. That’s why it seems to hop around the calendar! In 2025, Easter is one of the late ones—it falls on 20 April.

Finals Bound: Breakouts, Battles & Big Finishes!

The road to Finals Weekend at Mt Eden Bowling Club is paved with standout performances and fierce matchups from last weekend’s Auckland Men’s Triples and Women’s Singles. 

Rising stars from the 1–5s turned heads. Among the standout storylines—Henrietta Scott’s comeback win over Penny Yam set the tone for a dominant surge to the Women’s Singles final, while Lisa Prideaux’s cool-headed navigation through a stacked draw proved her class and composure.  Henrietta has now set up a final with Lisa—it should be a match brimming with shot-making finesse.

We saw powerhouse combinations and emerging talents collide in a drama-filled Men's Triples post-section. With names like Galloway and Dixon, along with Liam Hill and David Motu still in the hunt, the Centre Finals is shaping up to be a must-watch bowls.

Liam Hill’s young side impressed with tactical brilliance, while a seasoned Galloway side reminded everyone why experience counts under pressure.

It all sets the stage for a weekend of precision and passion. With open-grade finals on Saturday, 26 April and the 1–5 Singles concluding Sunday, Mt Eden’s greens will host a fitting finale to a blockbuster month of bowls.

👉 Read the full wrap-up here
👉 View the full photo album here

Check Your Bowls

Bowls New Zealand has teamed up with Breast Cancer Foundation NZ and Prostate Cancer Foundation NZ to raise awareness around the early detection of breast, prostate, and testicular cancer. 

Bowls is more than a game. It’s about community, connection, and looking out for one another.

With clubs all over Aotearoa, we’ve got the perfect place to start these important chats. Clubs are where we catch up, check in, and support our mates—so let’s use that to make a real difference.

Cancer has touched many in our bowling whānau. Early detection can make all the difference. That’s what this campaign is all about. 

👉Read more about their campaign

Club Delegates Forum – Centre Events 

On Tuesday, 14 April, Bowls Auckland hosted over 30 club representatives for the annual Club Delegates Forum – Centre Events.

The Forum is a vital part of the consultation process involving Bowls New Zealand, centres, clubs, and players, as Bowls Auckland—through its Playing Programme Committee (PPC)—develops the 2025–2026 Calendar of Events.

Discussions focused on summarising key feedback gathered through recent player and club surveys. These insights highlighted opinions on several important topics, including interclub competitions, calendar congestion, conditions of play, and tournament structures, among others.

From here, Bowls Auckland will consider all feedback (from both the Forum and surveys), draft a provisional calendar, and circulate it to clubs for further consultation before publishing the final 2025–2026 Calendar of Events in early June 2025.

Bowls Auckland thanks all attendees for their valuable input and looks forward to refining and sharing next year’s calendar!

Club bowled over by community spirit

What do you get when a community rolls up its sleeves and gets stuck in? For Maraetai Bowling Club, the answer is nothing short of a complete transformation — 15 years’ worth of repairs and renovations smashed out in just 18 days, all for only $16,000.

Throughout the project, more than a dozen volunteers turned up each day, tools in hand, clocking up 1,250 total hours of hard work.

“It was a really great vibe - we had music blaring all day to keep everyone energised,” says club co-president Ross Peden. Gone are the tired 60s wallpaper and 70s panelling. In their place: fresh interior paint, new spouting, cladding, insulation and a newly painted fence. Volunteers also carried out prep work for a new shelter roof. The club’s iconic honours boards, which have lined the walls since the 1960s, have been removed and replaced by a sleek 85” screen donated by Harvey Norman, which now displays a modern, easily updated version of members’ achievements.

👉Read the full article published by Pōhutukawa CoastTimes

Who’s Your Extra End Hero? 

Our clubs are full of good sorts — the ones who coach, clean, mow, mix drinks, run raffles, and somehow still have time to encourage others with a smile!  Now, Bowls Auckland wants to recognise them.

We’ve just launched our new Extra End Heroes programme — a celebration of the volunteers who go the extra end for their club and community.

 “It’s our way of giving back to those who give so much,” says CEO Dean Bartlett.
Every two months, one deserving volunteer will be featured across our channels and celebrated as an Extra End Hero.

Know someone who fits the bill? It only takes a minute to nominate them.

👉 Click here to read more
👉 Nominate your Extra End Hero here