Mountaineer, Peter Hillary grew up in Remuera and even though he rode his bike past the Remuera Bowling Club each day on his way to the train station to go to School, this was his first visit inside the Club.
Peter told us wonderful stories about his father, Sir Edmund Hillary. We heard about how incredibly bold Sir Ed. and Tenzing Norgay were in what they achieved being the first to climb Mt. Everest. They were a real team.
When Peter summited Everest in 1990, he and his father were the first father/son duo to achieve the feat. Peter has achieved two summits of Everest and an 84 day trek across Antarctica to the South Pole.
In February this year, Peter went to the Papua Province in Indonesia with his children to climb the Sudirman Range to a height of 4,800 metres. We saw a video of this. The Sudirman Range is home to one of the seven summits. Peter joked that his children got to the top before he did.
Peter is planning to return to climb Everest in 2020, with his son Alexander.
Peter has started a clothing company with his sons George and Alexander. They were involved in NZ Fashion week recently. The clothing brand is an opportunity to keep their grandfathers name alive.
The 60th anniversary of the first ascent to Everest was celebrated with a special event in London in 2013. This also coincided with the 60th Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip.
Peter told us that his challenge is to be a good role model and to act with integrity.
Wayne Brewer thanked Peter for his fantastic talk which was enjoyed by us all.
