The Blues have begun their own summer road trip, heading to Northland in a large contingent of campervans, ready to bond with each other and the local community.
This season's squad features seven rookies among several new faces, and captain Patrick Tuipolutu said the pre-season camp up north would be a chance to connect with everyone.
"We always look forward to pre-season camps and we always look forward to getting together and connecting and setting ourselves up for the year.
"There's a lot of new guys in this squad and I certainly don't know everyone in the squad so I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone."
Karl Tu’inukuafe packed plenty of kava, while Tom Robinson brought his dog, as the team looked forward to "a lot of chilling out time", according to Tuipolutu.
The team had not visited Northland in a while, Tuipolutu said, and he saw this trip as a chance to get out and meet the people of the region.
"We're supporting them and they're a part of this region as well. It's not just Auckland."
The first stop for the squad this morning was Snowplanet, where they took part in a number of team activities.
There were plenty of smiles and laughter as the players slid down the slope on tubes, some even losing control.
"[It was] a bit scary, I crashed into one of the other staff members," All Black winger Caleb Clarke said.
"But it was good. Good fun."
He and first-five Otere Black were both looking forward to the trip ahead and doing "something different".
"It's awesome," Black said.
"Obviously before we get into all the serious stuff it's good to get out of Auckland and get together as a team and get a few activities."
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