The Super 15 side has spent the past five days in the area, training and also meeting and greeting residents.
Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph said it would hard to not have a pleasant few days in a beautiful part of the country and the camp was a good way to get everyone together and familiarise.
The side had done some team activities away from the playing field but Joseph was non-committal over whether those ventures made any difference to performances on the paddock.
"But the one thing I do know is we've got 26 guys who have come from outside Dunedin and everyone in the management team bar two guys are not from Dunedin either," Joseph said.
"So this was a good opportunity to get to know each other and get along with each other. No other team in New Zealand is in the same situation as us."
The side had trained early in the morning, running down to the ground, and had also had a couple of sessions in the afternoon.
Hunting had also been on the agenda as had plenty of water activities, but there had still been lots of time spent on the training paddock.
Key first five-eighth Colin Slade had picked up a groin injury and had not trained in a couple of sessions.
Joseph said he did not think Slade's injury was serious and Lima Sopoaga had stepped in and impressed at training with Slade out injured.
Losing Slade for any length of time would be a huge blow for the side as he looms as a pivotal player for the season.
Front rowers David Te Moana and Mahonri Schwalger had picked up hamstring injuries and missed a couple of training sessions.
Other players had picked up the odd niggle.
The squad would return to Dunedin at the weekend and would be straight back into training on Monday morning with fitness testing.
They would then start to be look at their first pre-season game of the season, in Balclutha next Saturday against the Blues.
Joseph said the side had not really talked about the game against the Blues yet.
"We have got three pre-season games and then there are 16 competition games. So that is 19 games of rugby in six months so that is a big slog."
The Highlanders also play the Chiefs, in Taupo, on February 5, and the Crusaders, in Oamaru, on February 11, before the first game of the competition against the Hurricanes, in Wellington, on February 18.
