The rider scored his second stage win in as many days, following Wednesday's victory on Coronet Peak with a solid win on Bluff Hill.
He has now banked the twin peaks and put himself in prime position to become just the fifth overseas rider in 63 years to win New Zealand's most prestigious cycling race.
"It was a long stage and the wind in the front made for a difficult race," Frayre said.
"We had a race plan. My team worked on the front all day and did a really good job. We started the climb in the best spot possible again and we won, so we are so happy."
Frayre had two practice climbs on Bluff Hill last week, but that had not prepared him for the intensity of one of New Zealand cycling's best-known stages.
"I arrived here a week ago, so I did it one time easy and then I decided to come another day and do it harder because that's totally different. Today it was really hard."
It was also an outstanding day for Southland's Corbin Strong, who followed up his third placing on Coronet with second yesterday.
Strong leads the under-23 classification by more than three minutes.
Frayre now leads Strong by 35sec, with Vink trailing by 47sec. Fourth-placed Alex Heany is nearly three minutes them.
Given that Frayre has a strong squad around him, tomorrow's individual time trial could pose the biggest his biggest challenge yet.
Today's 151km stage from Invercargill to Gore promises a little more breeze to test riders, but nothing like the crosswinds which can wreak havoc on that stage.
Yesterday a breakaway of Southland's Tom Sexton, Henry Levett, George Jackson, Madi Hartley-Brown and Paul Wright escaped as the race headed east and south, gaining more than four minutes of freedom as the peloton enjoyed another day of relatively benign conditions.
Sexton hogged the sprints until he forced himself into the lead in the sprint ace classification, dropping back to the peloton around the 110km mark.
With Bluff Hill rising up in the distance, the peloton started to edge up over 40kmh and Wright, who would be rewarded with the most combative rider jersey, was the last rider to be caught, with 3km left.
As a big bunch attacked the climb, the race's leading trio fought to the front and eventually formed the podium.
Ioan Fuller continues to lead the king of the mountain standings, and Paul Odlin is still holding off Glenn Haden for the over-35 silver jersey honours.
