Build team spirit, beat the Force and the Waratahs, and win the facial hair challenge — those are his missions as he and his teammates head to Perth then Sydney.
Perth is not exactly close but the days of the long Super Rugby roadies of close to a month are over, so the Highlanders need to make the most of this time together as a squad as they enter the second half of their season targeting a playoff finish.
"It’s awesome that we’re going to be together," Hunt said.
"We won’t be going home to separate houses after trainings. We’ll be having more card games, more coffees out, and that sort of thing.
"All those little connections, bits of details, game comments, training comments — we’ll be able to keep on top of them all the time.
"I think that’s exciting. We don’t get to tour much any more, not like the old South African trips.
"Hopefully Perth is nice and warm, and heaps of little factors can bring about energy and excitement, and hopefully we win a couple of games as well."
It is an intriguing trip for the Highlanders.
Win both games and they have exceeded last season’s win tally; win one, and they might be happy enough; drop both and there will again be major concerns about where this campaign will finish.
While the 29-14 loss to the Hurricanes before the bye broke their three-game winning streak, the Highlanders continued to show some progress.
"I think we’ve built amazingly over the last three or four weeks," Hunt said.
"The finish to the Canes game wasn’t ideal, considering where we sort of sat at halftime, but we had some amazing stats out of that game.
"This is an awesome opportunity to try to get two wins under the belt.
"We understand the threat the Force pose, but if we can go in and push them again, that will be fantastic."
Hunt has lost rookie back-up Cam Millar to an ankle injury but will have veteran wingman Freddie Burns back after the Englishman’s return from the sidelines.
He said Burns offered "big energy" as well as experience.
Both men will need to fill the hole left by halfback Aaron Smith, who misses the Force game following the death of his father.
"It’s obviously a really unfortunate situation for him and his family but it does give guys an opportunity to come and fill in," Hunt said.
"We’ve had pull-outs at the last minute, guys in and out through injury. It’s incredible. I’ve not really been part of something like that in terms of injury count.
"We’re sort of used to the chop and change now ... so we’ll get on with it with Aaron in our minds."
Hunt is fighting fit after missing the Hurricanes game with an abdominal strain.
He spent nine months out of rugby with concussion issues before this season and got a big test in the Moana Pasifika game when he was cleaned up by the imposing figure of Timoci Tavatavanawai.
"I was fine out of that. And I guess that’s probably as big a test as you will get.
"I’m sweet. It’s been a little bit of adjustment, just with the body soreness and getting into the swing of things after a wee while off."
Hunt and his team-mates are doing the traditional facial hair challenge on their Australian tour.
Mini-teams in the squad each drew a specific type of growth.
"My team got the handlebars, so we’ll make a bit of fun out of it for a couple of weeks and we’ll judge the winners when everyone comes back.
"The criteria is sort of buy-in. The team that shows the most creativity will be deemed the winner and maybe get a nice lunch out together."
