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New Zealand and the West Indies accentuated the positives as they dispensed with the whites and focused on a cricketing format they are clearly more comfortable with.
Attention now switches to the limited overs component of the tour, with a sequence of two Twenty20 matches and five one-dayers starting at Auckland's Eden Park on Boxing Day.
Those contests will ideally produce a dominant force after their two test series ended at McLean Park in Napier yesterday without a definitive winner.
The first match was essentially washed out in Dunedin, while a string of compelling individual performances ensured an outright result was never really in prospect in the decider.
New Zealand plans to reach an imposing 312-run victory target petered out at 220 for five nine overs before the scheduled close when it became apparent the lowly ranked test teams had cancelled themselves out.
West Indian captain Chris Gayle was influential in ensuring New Zealand's target remained out of reach after he spent 8-1/2 hours assembling 197 - the counter balance to Auckland opener Tim McIntosh's maiden test century while Shivnarine Chanderpaul also reached three figures on a batting surface that made taking 20 wickets impractical.
The drawn series means the West Indies protect seventh place and New Zealand stay eighth - only Bangladesh sit behind them on the International Cricket Council test rankings.
New Zealand probably had more cause to rue yesterday's stalemate after they spurned several opportunities to apply a chokehold on a West Indies side reliant on the input of four key players - Gayle, Chanderpaul, Australian-born revelation Brendan Nash and pace bowler Fidel Edwards, who took a career-best 7-87 in the first innings before making an invaluable 20 with his skipper to delay New Zealand's second innings until only 60 overs were available.
New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori believed a successful run chase was possible though Jamie How's dismissal for a stress-relieving 54 and Brendon McCullum's erroneous exit for 19 when he should not have been caught behind forced a rethink at 204 for five.
"I have a lot of gamblers in my room, I had to sort of fight them back a little bit," Vettori said after deciding to abandon the chase.
"I just thought if we lost another wicket we could have got ourselves in trouble and I didn't want to put all that hard work to waste."
After suffering a 0-2 mauling across the Tasman in their last series, Vettori identified several promising signs after New Zealand extended their unbeaten record against the West Indies to 10 tests - five won and five drawn - dating back to a 10-wicket loss at Bridgetown in 1996.
The introduction of McIntosh was an obvious positive as the left hander illustrated an ability to occupy the crease in three of his four innings, the highlight of which was a grafting 136 at the weekend.
"It was an openers' hundred, I think as a New Zealand team that's something we've been crying out for for a long time," Vettori enthused.
How's brisk half century also helped restore his confidence after a luckless run of low scores and has probably booked his spot for the home tests again Indian in March-April.
Vettori certainly gave him a glowing endorsement.
"I'm a very big fan of Jamie, in my mind I want him to play as much as possible," Vettori said.
"The selectors feel he is an opener of international class and we want to give him as much time as possible."
On the bowling front Iain O'Brien and Jeetan Patel recorded career-best hauls while James Franklin made a solid return from knee surgery.
West Indian coach John Dyson nominated Nash as a standout after the 31-year-old made back-to-back fifties in just his second test.
Nash, who scored 74 and 64, figured in crucial partnerships in both innings to stymie New Zealand's progress. The West Indies were effectively 42 for four in their second innings when he combined with Gayle to add 124 for the fifth wicket.
"He's done very well for his first series," said Dyson.
The former Australian opener was also impressed with side's resolve considering they were on the back foot from the opening morning.
"I was pleased with the way the team fought throughout this match. We didn't bat well enough in the first innings to dominate the game but we fought the rest of the game pretty well."
- NZPA
