Auckland, Mar 1: The ashes of Sir Edmund Hillary who died on January 10, were scattered last evening in the inner Hauraki Gulf on Auckland's eastern coast by his widow Lady Hillary, son Peter, daughter Sarah, besides other family members.

It was Hillary’s wish that his ashes be immersed in the waters of Auckland's Hauraki Gulf.

The ashes were scattered from the youth development ship "The Spirit of New Zealand", by his widow Lady Hillary, son Peter, daughter Sarah and other family members yesterday afternoon.

In his 1999 memoir "View from the Summit" he wrote of his ashes going into the Hauraki Gulf. "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," he said in the book.

Uniformed trainees formed an informal guard of honour on the Princes Street wharf, even as a new steel gangplank "Hillary Step" was designed especially for the occasion to enable his ashes to be scattered close to the waterline, reported the stuff. co. nz.

"Mindful of the honour being given to the ship, we designed the Hillary Step – a gangplank with five steps leading down to a small platform only about a hand’s breadth above the water" said Spirit of Adventure Trust CEO, John Lister. (ANI)