The Highlanders were scheduled to return home from Tokyo yesterday afternoon, having made a successful first trip to the Land of the Rising Sun.
The side smashed the Sunwolves 52-0 on Friday night, and with the bonus point victory has moved up to sixth on the table.
The win was the side's biggest winning margin in the competition, surpassing the 55-6 scoreline posted against the Force in Perth in 2017.
The side was in 13th before the round started, but in a congested points table the victory has given it a boost.
Highlanders coach Aaron Mauger admitted he slept well on Friday night as his side finally put it all together in the eight tries to zero victory.
"We could see it coming. We have been trying to play like this all year and just have a more consistent 80 minutes. We were building on last week and looking to grow all parts of our game," he said.
"I thought everyone played their part. Aaron [Smith] and Josh [Ioane], Matt Faddes, they kept the ball in front of our forwards and they executed part of the plan. We were playing in the right areas of the field and when the ball went to the backs they pulled the trigger.
"We were building more pressure and looking to hang on to the ball."
Ioane had a fine game at first five-eighth, and Mauger said as Ioane gained more confidence and was seeing more on the field, he was doing more of what was asked of him, and that was transferring into some good play.
Mauger said it was a good benchmark for the side and although there were still things to work on, the side had kept belief and shown resilience during a run of close losses and that was helping now.
The Chiefs are next up, back at Forsyth Barr Stadium this Saturday night.
The only injury worry for the side was replacement first five-eighth Bryn Gatland, who was carried off the field in the back end of the game.
Mauger said Gatland had injured his foot. He was likely to get a scan after the swelling had gone down.
McKay was an option to back up Ioane. He had some experience of playing first five-eighth at school and also played in that position for the Highlanders Bravehearts team in its win over the Crusaders Knights in Christchurch earlier this year.
Mauger said the side's other pivot, Marty Banks, was looking at being available for the game against the Jaguares on May 11, and that was also the probable return date for injured All Blacks Waisake Naholo and Liam Squire, who are both out with knee injuries.
The Chiefs game will mark the end of the eight New Zealand derbies for the Highlanders, and a win would mean three victories and a draw in eight games.
In other games over the weekend the Hurricanes beat the Chiefs 47-19, the Sharks toppled the Waratahs 23-15, the Stormers edged the Bulls 24-23 and the Jaguares beat the Brumbies 20-15.