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Thousands of people gathered in parks, halls and churches around New Zealand to say goodbye to Sir Edmund Hillary.
Large screens showing Sir Edmund's funeral service were set up around New Zealand, including the Auckland Domain and Viaduct, the Wellington Town Hall, Cathedral Square in Christchurch and the Dunedin Town Hall.
Thousands of people crammed into Auckland's Domain. Some took the day off work and there were many families among the crowd. And although the heavens opened up in a downpour, the crowds stayed.
"I just had to be here," said one mourner.
"We miss him and we love him. He's a great man," said another.
Many in the crowd shared words of their own.
"He was walking up Portland Road (in Remuera) one day near where he lived and someone stopped to offer him a lift and he said 'if I can bloody well walk up Mount Everest I can walk up Portland Road'," said one woman in the crowd.
The funeral cortege travelled from the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Parnell and through the Auckland Domain before winding its way to the Purewa Cemetery in Meadowbank.
As it passed through the usually bustling retail district of Newmarket, stores had shut as a mark of respect.
"It's just a little thing that each of us can do, just close our businesses and stop our work and just salute a great human being," said a retailer.
And the streets echoed with applause.
"It felt like the right thing to do, and how do you celebrate a man that you don't know, but you do know?" said a member of the public in Newmarket.
In Christchurch it was a balmy day - perfect for the 2,000 people viewing the funeral on the giant screen which was erected in Cathedral Square.
Roads around the Square were closed off and both the markets and buskers were moved out to make way for the mourners.
Inside the cathedral a second screen also relayed the funeral to those seated inside, and the cathedral's bells pealed to mark his passing.
In Wellington two big screen viewings took place - one at Te Papa where a friend of Sir Ed's reminisced.
"Tremendously infectious sense of humour, tells a great story," said Te Papa chief executive Dr Seddon Beddington.
Hundreds queued to sign commemoration books and down the road at Wellington's Town Hall hundreds watched the televised funeral, some crying and others laughing at the anecdotes.
Alpine tribute
Prior to the funeral there was also a service at Aoraki, Mt Cook.
A lone piper standing in the rain began the special service at Mount Cook village as the close-knit climbing community paid final tributes.
"We're laying a natural wreath for Sir Ed's memory, the place where he started climbing," said alpine guide Brian Carter.
Those at the service talked about a man who went to top of the world then dedicated his life to helping those who helped him get there.
And the climbing community say they are determined his work in Nepal will continue.
"All the donations that are put in that box go to The Himalayan Trust and it is gives people an opportunity for people to be able to do something and show their appreciation for Ed," says a friend of Hillary's, Mary Hobbs.
For a modest man, Sir Ed had a very public send-off around the country, but a fitting one for a person who has inspired so many.
Sir Ed showed many not to just follow a path, but to go where there is none and make a trail.
