It was on a plane to Brisbane to prepare to play the Reds, who were upset by Moana Pasifika in Whangārei.
The Highlanders were on the end of a hat-trick of tries by unheralded wing Darby Lancaster, whose speed was too much for the Southerners' defence.
Looking ahead, the Highlanders are set to face - the Reds, the Force, and Moana Pasifika, all teams closely ranked on the points table. Coach Clarke Dermody remains optimistic, believing in their ability to compete if they can minimize costly errors.
"If we get our game going we can score enough points. It's just not giving teams the opportunity to get double scores on us. That's what always hurts you."
Dermody said the Highlanders put themselves under pressure attempting to exit.
"We felt like we were always close enough to be in it, but left ourselves too much to do."
Captain Billy Harmon said he was pleased with what they achieved around their set piece, and they played in the right parts of the field, but, in a couple of key moments, they slipped off the pace.
"They score a few easy tries just by playing on top of us and having that sort of spark. We're showing that we can score points and that our game plan works. So, it's just about getting rid of some of those errors."
Centre Jonah Lowe suffered another injury, which Dermody said could be a meniscus lock-up in his knee, but nothing had been confirmed.