Goodbye Sir Ed

"Even the mediocre can have adventures,and even the fearful can achieve."
- Sir Ed Hillary (referring to himself), 1919-2008

I took this photo at 2.00am this morning, after standing in line for an hour and a half. I, like some others I spoke too, had underestimated my fellow Kiwis and thought that there would not be many people there in the early hours. The line outside the Holy Trinity Cathedral stretched out onto the street and around the corner of the block. There were people with kids, including some with babies asleep in prams. Sir Edmund Hillary died on 11 January 2008, and we have been remembering him and paying our respects since the news broke. It was decided to keep the Cathedral,where he has been lying in state, open all night before the day of his funeral. So we waited in line and the rain, from the remnants of the sub-tropical cyclone that passed our way over the weekend, was so fine that the wind blew it away before it could settle on us. As we finally moved into the grounds of the Cathedral we heard, from further back along the street a group of young men singing "Swing low, sweet chariot". And everyone stopped talking. We entered the Cathedral, which is beautiful, just as the changing of the guard took place, which was followed by a minister saying a prayer. There were several people who had taken seats and sat quietly as others passed through to pay respect. As we left we were greeted by Rev. John Marcon, a chaplain who shook my hand and had a warmth that was immediately obvious. Like the NZ Army inside, I had the sense that Rev. Marcon was keeping a kind of open guard at the door too.

I first heard Sir Ed had left us when I was on holiday. We were walking down to the beach and passed a house on the way that was flying a NZ flag at half mast. Hardly anyone flies the flag outside their house here, so that in itself caught my eye. "Some-one has died" I said, and we wondered who it was. Later we saw the newspaper and couldn't believe it. Because I think we always subconsciously assumed that Sir Ed would endure just like the mountain he climbed - Everest. The weekend newspapers ran extra copies and still nearly sold out. We read them, and talked about him, and told the well known stories of that famous climb in 1953 with his Sherpa guide and friend, Tenzing Norgay. One of my favourite quotes from Sir Ed is his reponse to being asked why he took a photo of Tenzing at the summit, but didn't have Tenzing take one of him. Sir Ed explained that Tenzing didn't know how to use a camera, "and it wasn't the time to teach him". A couple of days later I passed through the sea-side town of Orewa and stopped there at Hillary Square where many holiday makers had also stopped to convey their respect and mark Sir Ed's passing. Scarves had been draped around his statue there.

Sir Ed was both living history among us and a good down to earth bloke. He received a knighthood from the Queen, and still kept his phone no. listed in the White Pages. Being the first man to climb Mt. Everest was really a short period of his life compared to his life-long commitment to the Sherpa people in Nepal afterwards. Here he is remembered as much for his work to provide hospitals and schools for the Nepalese as for his world-first ascent. He found time to cross Antarctica as well. I would say he was our greatest icon but that suggests a hyped up kind of adultation. He was a hero to us though, partly because he was the Kiwi who was first to the top of the world, and just as much because he came down the same man who went up - and remained modest throughout his life despite the accolades that came. He is being given a state funeral today, an honour normally reserved only for those who have held high public office. The Domain, a big park close to the Cathedral, will have screens set up relaying the funeral for people.

I think Sir Ed didn't even know what would follow when he spent 15 minutes at the top of Everest in 1953. He had climbed eight mountains in one year in 1950 (five of them in five days), and was up for the biggest challenge of all in 1953. We're used to thinking of him as still around, and seeing him in interviews every so often. Now he has met the last challenge of all and has left us. And although Sir Ed didn't like a fuss being made and was really quite a humble man who didn't let it go to his head, I'll still say that he was, and I expect will be, our greatest hero. An ordinary bloke with a passion who went for it and got there. And the view was terrific.