Skywatch Friday: Peter Hillary

Peter Hillary with his wife (red) Yvonne and Diane Harding. Diane had worked in Nepal for 2 years.

Peter talking to the children about his Dad Sir Ed Hillary and his work in Nepal.


On the 50th anniversary of Sir Ed's conquering of Mt Everest, Peter and his friends climbed the mountain. Here I took my photo from the video that Peter showed the children of him talking to his Dad. His Dad asked him if he reached the summit.


In 1992 Hillary appeared on the updated New Zealand $5 note, thus making him the only New Zealander to appear on a banknote during his or her lifetime, in defiance of the established convention for banknotes of using only depictions of deceased individuals, and current heads of state. Peter had a joke about the $5 note. My ESOL kids remember him saying," Sorry, Dad, I have to buy something, good bye."

Our beautiful sky after the talk, view of my part of my school.

Like our Sky Tower, Sir Ed is an icon of New Zealand. View from my school.

When I was 11 in Borneo, we had to cut out photos from Newspaper and make a scrap book and learn the facts of important and famous people. The hero in my scrap book was Edmund Hillary. He was the first man who climbed the highest mountain in the World, Mt Everest in 1953 just before I was born. He came from New Zealand.

Sir Ed was not just an adventuror, He was a philanthropist. He was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. Following his ascent of Everest he devoted most of his life to helping the Sherpa people of Nepal through the Himalayan Trust, which he founded. Through his efforts, many schools and hospitals were built in Nepal.

As an adult, I was privileged to come to study at the university and then to live in New Zealand. Today, I was just as excited as the students of Pt Chevalier to hear our speaker, Peter Hillary. Peter is the son of Sir Ed. I was very pleased he was very obliging when I asked to take his photo for my blog. Peter by his own right is a remarkable man.

My colleague Diane Harding had organised his talk. It was Peter and Yvonne's wedding anniversary. It is indeed a great privilege to have them come to school. Diane had spent 2 years up in the mountains of Nepal as a nurse with her partner Liz who is a doctor.

Nepal, of course, has a special place in my heart. Occasionally, I blog about Ganga and Jemunah. They were the pair of con-joint twins from Nepal. In 2000, they came to Singapore to be separated. I spearheaded the fund raising in Nanyang Technological University. I felt very touched when their mum and grand dad invited me to see them while they were still con-jointed.


Peter Hillary comes from one of the great families of mountaineering and has a history of world-class achievements in climbing.

Like his father, the late Sir Edmund Hillary, who made the first ascent of Mt Everest with his climbing partner Tenzing Norgay in 1953, Peter has summited Everest and forged a new route to the South Pole. The names Everest and Hillary are forever linked, and will always be associated with high adventure.

Peter Hillary is an accomplished mountaineer, speaker and expedition leader. He raises funds for Himalayan Foundations around the world and owns the Hillary Brand, a line of HILLARY branded goods. Together with his sister Sarah Hillary, they manage the intellectual property of the Ed Hillary estate.


The last photo I show is of Auckland Sky Tower. It is the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere, just as we are proud of the Hillary name who is an icon is New Zealand, so is the Sky Tower where we can see from our school on a fine day like this morning.



Climb every mountain,
Search high and low,
Follow every byway,
Every path you know.

Climb every mountain,
Ford every stream,
Follow every rainbow,
'Till you find your dream.

A dream that will need
All the love you can give,
Every day of your life
For as long as you live.

Climb every mountain,
Ford every stream,
Follow every rainbow,
Till you find your dream

A dream that will need
All the love you can give,
Every day of your life,
For as long as you live.

Climb every mountain,
Ford every stream,
Follow every rainbow,
Till you find your dream.

Read more: http://artists.letssingit.com/sound-of-music-lyrics-climb-every-mountain-q47jrxt#ixzz1pFhQtIdg
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