By DPA
Wellington : The ashes of Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man atop the Everest and Antarctic explorer who died in January at the age of 88, were scattered on the Hauraki Gulf off his home city of Auckland Friday, in accordance with his wishes.
Thousands of people lined the streets of Auckland when he was given the rare honour of a state funeral last month.
In his 1999 memoir “View from the Summit”, Hillary wrote: “I should even like my ashes to be spread on the beautiful waters of Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf, to be washed gently ashore, maybe on the many pleasant beaches near the place where I was born.
“Then the full circle of my life will be complete.”
Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay of Nepal, who were members of a British expedition, were the first to climb the world’s highest peak May 29, 1953. The announcement was, however, made June 2, 1953, the day Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II was crowned.
The Queen has announced she will hold a memorial service for Hillary at Windsor Castle, near London, in April.