Advancing the momentum gained in the victory over Australia at Hobart will be the goal for New Zealand when they resume Test cricket with the one-off Test against Zimbabwe at McLean Park in Napier on Thursday.
Achieving that will be easier said than done given the diet of Twenty20 cricket New Zealand's players have had since their return from Tasmania.
However, captain Ross Taylor has the bit between his teeth and is determined that New Zealand will not let the chance slip to continue its progress through the Test ranks.
He's still receiving the congratulations of the New Zealand public for the win and there was no doubt that it had captured the imagination of the country.
Apart from needing to put the Zimbabwe challenge to bed as efficiently as possible, there is also the need to prepare for the threat South Africa will pose in the three-Test series in March.
"We've got build on the momentum we gained from the Hobart Test match. We don't want to dine off that for years to come.
"We know we created history but we want to get consistent performances and what better place to start than in our first game at home," he said.
Success would be a significant achievement – New Zealand has not won a Test at Napier since the first game in 1979.
The programme was what it was and some players, notably opening batsman Martin Guptill had thrived in the reduced overs cricket but the key would be for the batsmen especially to play within themselves upon returning to Test match play.
Speculation that the pitch will offer a little more seam on the first day than is usually the case has occupied pre-game talk but as has so often happened in the past, the pitch has flattered to deceive.
However, Taylor believes the pitch will offer more bounce than a traditional Napier wicket and with that in mind his thought was to bowl first should he win the toss.
Taylor said the groundsman was keen to see more results on the ground, which is also Taylor's home ground for his first-class side Central Districts, because it had also proved too good to get results even in four-day Plunket Shield games.
"I'm sure the bowlers will be looking forward to bowling out there," he said.
Zimbabwe had been troubled by the short ball in the New Zealand XI warm-up game in Gisborne and that would be something the home team would be looking to exploit.
"With the extra bounce we'll be able to test out their techniques.
"We're going out there to win. We know we're not often favourites but we need to do the basics well and build on the fighting spirit we showed in Hobart," he said.
BJ Watling secured the berth of wicketkeeper in the side while Otago all-rounder Shane Wells remained with the side for the first day of the game.
Taylor confirmed that Watling always had the inside running to take the gloves, he had been 'promising' in his glove work in the New Zealand XI game against Zimbabwe in Gisborne and had backed that with a good first innings.
At the same time Taylor said Zimbabwe were a better side than they were being given credit for. It was clear watching them prepare in Gisborne that they were a different side to that they met last year in Bulawayo and left-arm pace man Brian Vitori would be an interesting prospect. He was injured when New Zealand toured but had five-wicket bags against Pakistan and Bangladesh to his credit.