In an interview with New Zealand television, Richie McCaw has spoken further about his role in the rescue efforts after the 7.5 magnitude earthquake which hit the south island.
Following his retirement from rugby, the former All Black captain is working as a commercial helicopter pilot. He's been working lengthy days this week getting supplies to people in areas which have been cut off following the disaster.
Yesterday we were airborne at first light at around 5:30am and didn't get home until 10 o'clock last night. Then we were out here again at 5:30am this morning. Yeah, a couple of long days but it's good to at least help these people out.
Kaikoura, a well-known New Zealand tourist town, has been completely cut off by the quake. Access by road is currently not possible. McCaw has flown in engineers to assess the damage.
There's a lot of people that need to go into Kaikoura. We're taking up people to have a look at some sewers and things like that. Civil defence, engineers have been up earlier today just to see the buildings. Because there's no road access, helicopters are the way of getting them in. I'm thinking there's going to be a bit of work in the next week or so.
From a pilot's point of view, it's pretty cool to be able to get into the air and help out.
Along with flying, selfies with young fans have been part and parcel of the job.
There's a few kids running around getting a few autographs and what not, which is quite cool. Managing to get people in and out of helicopters and getting photographs is a little tricky. I've had my helmet on and people give you a second take before they realise.
We dropped into a farm that was cut off up the Clarence [River]. They got a little bit of a surprise but I think they were just thankful of someone coming to say hi because the bridge had been washed out.
You can watch the interview with McCaw below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRXSQyGPS4I
