Thirty-nine hours, five flights and a bus: Brumbies embark on arduous journey

The team has not beaten the Otago Highlanders in New Zealand since 2013, when Wallabies legend George Smith starred to steer ACT home 30-19.

The Brumbies will complete a 7626 kilometre round trip to Dunedin, starting with 24 hours of travel to the southern city.

Larkham's side flew from Canberra to Melbourne on Thursday afternoon before flying to Auckland later in the day. The flight was due to arrive in Auckland at 12.30am local time, with the team to stay in the city overnight.

A two-hour flight from Auckland to Dunedin concludes the arduous journey and they will finally arrive at their destination at 2.30pm New Zealand time on Friday.

From there, they have just 26 hours to prepare for a clash with the Highlanders, with kickoff at 4.35pm (2.35pm AEDT) on Saturday.

The return home is no easier, with the Brumbies to fly to Auckland then Sydney, before jumping on a bus to Canberra on Sunday night.

In all, the team will have spent three-and-a-half days on the road, with nearly 40 hours in transit.

Further complicating the situation is the fact the players face a short turnaround into next Friday night's home clash with Moana Pasifika at Canberra Stadium.

The trip from Canberra to Dunedin is one of the most brutal journeys in Australian sport and is in stark contrast to the NRL's recent foray to Las Vegas, where players were pampered with business class flights and two weeks either side of the matches to acclimatise.

Such a lead in is off the table for rugby players, however Larkham said the club has worked hard to ensure all players arrive in Dunedin ready to perform.

"It's one of the hardest legs in Super Rugby but it's something we're used to," he said. "Every second game has travel and from Canberra every trip is via the airport, outside of the bus trip to Sydney to play the Waratahs.

"This one is unusually long so we have talked about the main modes of recovery, which are sleep, hydration and nutrition. We try and get on New Zealand time as quickly as possible to try acclimatise and adjust our body clocks."

The Brumbies enter Saturday afternoon's match determined to build on a scratchy 21-19 victory over the Western Force.

The clash marks the first chance to topple New Zealand opposition since a 46-12 drubbing to the Waikato Chiefs in Melbourne a fortnight ago.

History is against the Brumbies on Saturday, with the side enduring an 11-year drought in Dunedin. Many in the team have never played in the city before, with the side's Wallabies sharing their experience from last year's Bledisloe Cup clash.

While kickers are pleased to be playing in a stadium with a roof, Larkham said it brings unique challenges many players are not used it.

"It's a unique stadium to play in," he said. "It's a covered stadium, we don't get too many of those in Super Rugby. They're used to it and we're not used to it.

"We'll familiarise ourselves with the stadium as soon as we get over there. We'll head out to the stadium as a team [on Friday afternoon] and have a walk around and familiarise ourselves and then get into our usual prep."