The bulk of the squad disbanded on Wednesday morning following celebrations after the 23-22 win over the Lions at Forsyth Barr Stadium on Tuesday night.
Four of the Highlanders forwards are starting for the Maori All Blacks tomorrow against the Lions — hooker and captain Ash Dixon, locks Tom Franklin and Joe Wheeler and loose forward Elliot Dixon — while Ben Smith and Aaron Smith will start for the All Blacks against Samoa at Eden Park tonight.
Lima Sopoaga will come off the bench tonight in Auckland, while Liam Coltman and Waisake Naholo will watch from the stands.
The rest of the Highlanders will be giving some tired bodies a well deserved rest, scattering to various parts of New Zealand or fitting in a holiday to some warmer climes.
The side — minus the All Blacks — will come back together on June 29 to start training again.
Head coach Tony Brown should be back from his Japanese national team commitments by then and will be looking to have the side in top condition as the serious part of the season looms. The Highlanders have a match scheduled against the Crusaders in Timaru on July 6, to help get the players back up to speed.
One player who will be missing is outside back Matt Faddes, who has broken a bone in his hand and could miss the rest of the Super Rugby season.
The Highlanders have just the one game left in the Super Rugby regular season, taking on the Reds at Forsyth Barr Stadium on July 14.
The side can only finish seventh or eighth, as those directly in front of it — the Chiefs and Hurricanes — cannot be caught.
The Sharks sit four points behind the Highlanders in eighth position and have two games left to play, so could push ahead of the Highlanders.
The side from Durban takes on the Bulls at home on July 1 and then hosts the Lions in the final round of the season.
Whatever happens it looks as though the Highlanders will be heading to either Christchurch or Johannesburg for a quarterfinal.
The Lions can still qualify top if they win their last two games, over the Sunwolves and the Sharks, and then hope the Crusaders lose to the Hurricanes.
One man who will be busy over the break is Highlanders general manager Roger Clark.
There is, of course, the matter of appointing a coach for next year, with Scott McLeod showing he is a contender with the win last Tuesday night.
But he is also believed to be a serious contender to replace Wayne Smith in the All Blacks coaching set-up, so may be swayed to head to the national stage.
Also, Clark, who has more than 25 players signed for next year, will be wanting to pin down the intentions of outside backs Waisake Naholo and Malakai Fekitoa, who are both off contract at the end of the season.
Naholo has been linked with a move to the Chiefs, through family connections, while Fekitoa, after being left out of the All Blacks, is weighing up his options.