What's an endurance rally?

Of all the motor rally disciplines, endurance events involve the most miles driven and consequently the most beer consumed. The NZ event covers 4,300 miles starting in Auckland and ending at Christchurch 23 days later. Each driving day includes one or more ‘regularity’ sections involving stopwatch timing to the second, based on varying average speeds. There are also short special tests on closed circuits. The rallies are run by the Endurance Rally Association (ERA), whose flagship event is the gruelling Peking-to-Paris: we're hoping NZ will be rather 'softer'...