After a nippy 3C start, Queenstown would enjoy a fine 18C and Dunedin 17C.
As for the weekend, the outlook for northern and southern New Zealand is far more gloomy.
Ms Moes said wet weather would spread from Northland down across north eastern parts of the island.
While Saturday still looked to be nice for most regions the rain would start falling on Auckland and Coromandel overnight Saturday into Sunday.
By Sunday it would have spread down to eastern areas including the Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne and Taupo.
The rain would ease over the far north and Auckland regions over the day.
There was the possibility of heavy showers as the wet weather moved south.
At the same time a weakening front would move up the South Island over the weekend bringing rain to southern areas reaching Christchurch and Buller on Sunday.
The best weather was reserved for central New Zealand which would be mostly fine, she said.