The Australian firefighting effort is about to get a large Kiwi hand in the way of a massive bambi bucket which can ferry five tonnes of water by air to remote locations.
The chopper carrying the bucket left Taupo on Tuesday afternoon and is due in Australia late Wednesday.
The big helicopter has a unique firefighting weapon, with the bambi bucket capable of carrying five tonnes of water. It was packed up for the trip to Australia but is super effective from the air.
It's the largest firefighting helicopter based in the Southern Hemisphere.
"We have a speciality in that we fly it with 100-foot cable underneath the helicopter, a long line, and that allows us to get into rather tight water sources that other helicopters may be not be able to get into," says Doug Abbot, a Heliharvest helicopter pilot.
The chopper has a long way to go before it hits the smoke of Victoria and will need to refuel on the way.
From New Zealand it flies up to Norfolk Island then across to Lord Howe Island before landing on the Australian mainland in New South Wales. Then it's onto Victoria, 15 hours flying time in total.
And there will be no rest once they get there with the six crew working in rotating shifts.
"Battling against the heat and poor visibility and yeah, just the devastation that's there," says Abbot.
The 100 Kiwi firefighters on standby are now expecting to be called into the disaster zone within the next day and it seems more Kiwi help will soon follow.
