Sir Edmund Hillary was born on 20 July in
1919. He and Tenzing Norgay were the
first to summit the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest in 1953. The
Queen knighted him that same year – very early on in her reign.
He
spent a good part of the rest of his life working to benefit the people of
Nepal. An inspiration.
Sir
Ed was a New Zealander. Sadly he is no
longer with us, having died in 2008.
He
was much loved as a true Kiwi – he is said to have said on reaching the summit
– "we knocked the bastard off".
He worked as a beekeeper in the summer and climbed in the winter. He is on our $5 dollar note.
I met him once when he was invited to travel on our ship, a truly amazing man
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