Christopher Luxon's social media suggested he was in Te Puke - he was actually overseas on holiday

National Party Leader Christopher Luxon was overseas on holiday during the winter recess, despite social media posts suggesting he was in the country. Photo / Marty Melville

National Leader Christopher Luxon has admitted he was in Hawaii last week during Parliament's winter recess - while posts on his Facebook page made it look as though he was visiting regional New Zealand.

The posts, on his official social media accounts, suggested Luxon was spending the recess connecting with parts of heartland New Zealand like Te Puke.

On July 21, a post on Luxon's Facebook page showed him saying "provincial towns like Te Puke" were "the backbone of New Zealand" and discussing issues like skill shortages that were taking the region and the country backwards.

"I love getting out into the regions to explore places like Te Puke," the Facebook post read.

While the text of the post did not say Luxon was in Te Puke on that particular day, the video attached to the text said that Luxon was.

"Today I'm in Te Puke, the heart of Kiwifruit country," Luxon told viewers.

Instead, Luxon left that day for an overseas holiday with his family. He was actually in Te Puke a week earlier.

"I went to Hawaii with my family," Luxon said today.

"I was on leave last week with my family. I went to Hawaii with my family as I tend to do in July," Luxon said

Former National leader John Key was also fond of holidaying in Hawaii and has a holiday home there.

Luxon said he did not holiday at Key's home.

Luxon said he did not think his social media was misleading.

"The reality was my social media team released what I'm up to over a given week. The reality for me is I was here in the middle of a week in recess working really hard as I was up and down the country, and the week before I was overseas in Ireland, Singapore and the UK," Luxon said.

Luxon spent the first week of the three-week recess in Singapore, Ireland and the UK on a work trip. The Leader of the Opposition often goes overseas on an official trip once a year to build relationships abroad and get foreign experience.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was also abroad, first in Europe, then Australia and Fiji. All of these trips were work trips.