Hatch a plan to get those eggs

Starship patient Emily Domett, 8, poses with an egg painted by street artist BMD. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Hatch a plan to join a chocolate or arty egg trail this Easter, you'll be sweetly rewarded.

There is something a little bit virtuous about having to look for your Easter eggs before you settle down to consume them -- after all, you have earned them. Go hunting this Easter and you might be surprised at what you find ...

Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt

The eggs aren't chocolate, but they're still fun to find, and the beauty of their artwork is a reward in itself. Fifty five giant eggs, decorated by artists, designers and celebrities such as Tony Ogle, Gidon Bing, Dean Buchanan, Dick Frizzell and Herald cartoonist Rod Emmerson, have been hidden around central Auckland (there are also hunts running in Wellington and Christchurch). Some are outdoors, in the Wynyard Quarter, the waterfront and Britomart, and others inside, at Auckland Museum, the Auckland Art Gallery and Vector Arena, among other sites.

All the eggs are for sale, to raise money for Starship. Twenty special "gala" eggs auctioned on March 31 will be on display in Auckland Museum's atrium from April 1-7, and the rest are listed on Trade Me, with the auctions closing on April 7.

Download a map or the Big Egg Hunt app from the website, then follow the hunt. Get clues from Facebook or Twitter, and upload your own images. If you hunt using the app you can score points for each egg you find, and be in to win one of four gold Whittaker's Wabbit necklaces.

Hunting for chocolate

Art is all very well, but chocolate really hits the spot. Alongside its eggy artworks, Auckland Museum will be running an Easter egg trail over Easter weekend, with clues leading around its collections and a sweet reward at the end, including the chance to win a hamper of Whittaker's chocolate. Or if eggs aren't your thing, you can join the weekly Saturday morning Clued In with the Weird and Wonderful team: a new challenge to explore the gallery to figure out which collection objects share a special connection.

Mixing exercise and chocolate, Sport Waitakere's Cycle West programme has organised an Easter egg hunt on bikes at New Lynn's Olympic Park tomorrow. Bring your own bike and join in with egg-and-spoon races and other two-wheeled fun.

Further afield, the Amazing Maze at Spookers at Kingseat is hosting its annual Easter egg hunt over the long weekend. There's nothing frightening here, unless you are scared of the Easter Bunny, who will be hopping around the cornfield maze from 11am-2pm each day of the long weekend.

To the north of the city, the Kaipara Coast Sculpture Gardens is hosting its second annual Easter egg hunt on Easter Sunday, with 12 bunnies and an Easter chicken hiding 40kg of eggs throughout the day. There are also other interactive activities for kids, and of course the main sculpture trail, featuring more than 50 artworks along a 1km track.

Need to know

• Whittaker's Big Egg Hunt: locations around Auckland, eggs ready to be found now to April 7.

• Auckland Museum, Auckland Domain: Easter egg trail, April 3-6; Clued In, Saturdays 10.30am.

• Sport Waitakere Bike It Easter Egg Hunt: tomorrow, 10am, Olympic Park, New Lynn (meet near the velodrome, off Portage Rd).

• Amazing Maze 'n Maize Giant Easter Egg Hunt, 833 Kingseat Rd, April 3-6, with evening session on April 5. Adults $15, children 3-15 $10, family $45.

• Kaipara Coast Sculpture Gardens, 1481 Kaipara Coast Highway (SH16), Kaukapakapa. Egg hunt Sunday, April 5, 9am-3pm, adults $10, children 5-13 $5, family $25.

• Easter egg hunts are also planned at the Rotorua Museum; the Katikati Bird Gardens near Tauranga; the Leigh School Easter Carnival on Easter Sunday; and the Doubtless Bay Playgroups' Easter beach dig at Taipa on Saturday, April 4.

For details of more Easter activities, see eventfinder.co.nz