The Labour leader, a hot favourite to return to power in the October 17 poll, is basing herself in her hometown of Morrinsville for the next week, staying with her parents.

The PM will enjoy free babysitting for two-year-old Neve and home cooking at the end of her days visiting a string of North Island's regional centres.

These are not strong areas of support for Labour; Ms Ardern's party holds just two North Island seats outside Auckland and Wellington.

Still, the 40-year-old is riding high in the polls and will be hopeful of flipping a seat or two and more importantly boosting the all-important party vote during the road back to power.

Her rivals are also out on the campaign trail.

Opposition leader Judith Collins, of National, is spending the start of her week in Hawke's Bay, and some time in Napier and Hastings, with a policy or two up her sleeve to unveil.

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is riding a black-coated bus marked with "Back Your Future" across the country, taking the trip across the Cook Strait last Thursday.

The 75-year-old has been courting South Island voters in Nelson, Christchurch, Ashburton and Oamaru and on Monday will head to Dunedin.

Back in Morrinsville, the PM is keeping it local.

On Saturday, she was greeted by a haka and proceeded to cut a ribbon for a new performing arts centre at her old high school, Morrinsville College.

It was there the former school debater was voted by the class of 1998 "Most Likely to become Prime Minister".

"It was such an important part of my life and it's where I had my first leadership opportunities," she told reporters on Saturday.

Ms Ardern is a proud child of the Waikato and fond of saying she was "born with bells in my ears", a reference to the region's fine cattle tradition.

She kicked off her 2017 campaign, which took her from the polling disaster zone to the prime ministership, in the same place.

Ms Ardern had planned on casting her ballot at the school on Saturday, on what would have been the first day of New Zealand's fortnight-long advance voting period.

However last month she decided to push the poll out by a month after the discovery of a new COVID-19 cluster in Auckland.

That cluster is yet to subside and will change campaigning for the 2020 election.

Social distancing rules will make politicians judicious in their handshaking and baby-kissing choices.

Large rallies, which fall foul of gathering limits, won't be held for fears they could become super spreader events.

Campaign teams hope a reduction in COVID-19 cases will allow them to stage bigger events in the campaign's final days.

Australian Associated Press