KEY POINTS:
Thousands stood in line in the pouring rain for hours to pay their final respects to Sir Edmund Hillary as he lies in State at Parnell's Holy Trinity Cathedral.
The line of wellwishers snaked its way down St Stephens Ave and continued down Brighton Rd for over 100 metres. Marguerite Rogers had reached the corner of Brighton Rd after 90 minutes standing in line. Sir Edmund provided special inspiration for Ms Rogers who fought cancer and visited Everest twice.
"I went to Everest as part of the 50 year anniversary. I got cancer a year later and revisited with my son in 2006," Ms Rogers said.
Inside the cathedral, a naval guard of honour stands with heads bowed at the four corners of Sir Edmund's casket. After the mourners filed past and left the cathedral, they were thanked personally by the Reverend John Marcon as they headed back out into the rain.
But the large crowd size did not surprise the Rev Marcon. "I'm not surprised given the esteem (that) is held. For one that was around when he climbed the mountain, he put New Zealand on the map, and we hadn't been there before," Rev Marcon said.
Sir Edmund's humanitarian work will be remembered.
"What is significant is that every nation, every age - there's been a very wide spread of representation of the whole community."
Elizabeth Reid had brought her 8-year-old great neice Taylor Pearce who knows Sir Ed as the "$5 note man." Ms Reid said Sir Edmund was an important figure in her early life and remembers clearly seeing a film celebrating the conquering of Everest while at school.
"He was a wonderful man, a role model.
"I like everything about him, he was so honest. Basically, he did what he believed in and said what he believed in."
By 7pm, about a thousand people had waited some 15 minutes to pay their respects. Many had come after work and lots of families were queuing in light rain, with some small children already clad in their pyjamas.
Sir Edmund's casket was earlier welcomed to the cathedral with a haka performed by kuia and kaumata from Ngati Whatua before being marched inside by defence force personnel about 10am.
A guard of honour was set up inside the cathedral while Governor General Anand Satyanand, Helen Clark and leaders of other political parties laid wreaths in front of the casket.
At 8.45am tomorrow the casket will be moved to St Mary's in Holy Trinity ahead of the State Funeral, which begins at 11am.
Heavy rain this afternoon diminished a queue of people that had initially snaked across the cathedral forecourt, along St Stephens Ave and into Parnell Road.
A number of people still waited inside the cathedral but the queuing time dropped from as much as two hours to just three minutes.
Melinda and Neil Carbon, who live close to the cathedral, earlier told nzherald.co.nz they had planned to pay their respects but were overwhelmed by the size of the queue and would come back later.
Others were happy to wait in the rain.
Buddhist monks from Sri Lanka , Burma, Thailand and Tibet have paid tribute to Sir Edmund.
A puja - a prayer - was chanted for an hour after 2pm as members of the public paid their last respects to Sir Ed.
Some people wiped tears from their eyes as they filed out of the cathedral.
Outside, Eddie Creed said he remembers getting half a day off school as a 6 year-old in 1953 to celebrate Sir Ed's conquering of Mt. Everest. "We went to watch a movie as a school. I remember it so well. It was in colour, it blew us away," Mr Creed said.
At the time, he was the same age as his son Lewis is now. Mr. Creed brought his son to pay his respects to Sir Ed. "He was a great member of the human race. He's a role model for the children, he's a great New Zealander," Mr. Creed said.
He said Sir Ed " never put a foot wrong" and was a great man of the 21st century.
Nicola O'Halloran came up from Picton to pay her respects " The greatest thing for me was that he was a real humanitarian. He was very humble, honest and open". Ms. O'Halloran said.
She said Sir Ed gave back to the local community when others would only have taken.
Tomyu Hu flew from Christchurch in order to farewell Sir Ed.
"He's respected in all spheres," Mr Hu said.
"You don't have to be an outdoors person to appreciate him. He's a significant part of New Zealand history."
Mandy Thomas, from Taupo, said she had brought her 7-year-old son Jacob to the cathedral to see Sir Ed's casket.
"We saw the changeover from the navy to the army," she said.
"It was very respectful and it's nice for the kids to experience that."
However Newstalk ZB reported that many of those paying their respects were disappointed the casket was not open.
Dean Ross Bay, who led a brief service this morning, said the wishes of the Hillary family had been kept in mind.
"I was just very aware of the sense of solemnity. I found it very moving and I feel very proud to be able to be able to led the cathedral's part in it.
"Everyone I've spoken to was very moved by what took place this morning."
Prime Minister Helen Clark said this morning's wreath laying ceremony had brought home the reality of Sir Edmund Hillary's passing.
"Everyone has a memory of some kind ... we followed his adventures and so did our grandparents and the legend has really built through the whole 88 years of his life," she said.
"This brings it all home."
Helen Clark also paid tribute to Lady Hillary, saying she had shown great strength during an emotional time.
"She is leading all of us through this."
Members of the public will be able to file past Sir Edmund's casket and sign a book of condolences throughout the night until the cathedral is closed to the public at 8am.
Prayers will be said every hour until the cathedral closes to prepare for the removal of the casket to the adjacent St Mary's Church.
SIR ED'S FAREWELL
* Shortly before 10am this morning, as the hearse pulled into the cathedral forecourt, Lady Hillary emerged from the cathedral surrounded by family members, including Sir Ed's son, Peter Hillary.
* After a moving 'Ka mate, ka mate' haka performed by kuia and kaumatua from Ngati Whatua, Sir Ed's casket was marched into the cathedral by defence force personnel.
* A guard of honour was set up inside the cathedral while Governor General Anand Satyanand, Helen Clark and leaders of other political parties laid wreaths in front of the casket.
* Following the short ceremony, the family was given 30 minutes alone with Sir Ed.
* About 50 people from the Nepalese community also gathered at the cathedral.
Shyam Madhikarny, who met Sir Ed on a number of occasions, said: "All of us came here to pay our humble respects to Sir Ed. Sir Ed was so humble and a nice person, his door was always open and his heart was open."
* Tributes and songs have been dedicated to Sir Ed on the Nepalese community access radio.
* The Indian community also paid its respects to Sir Ed; women dressed in turquoise sari arrived at the cathedral this morning bearing plates of flowers.
* The British Government announced that the former UK Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, would be its representative at tomorrow's funeral. He will be accompanied by the British High Commissioner to New Zealand, George Fergusson.
* Mourners have been urged to take free public transport services from downtown Auckland to the church to avoid traffic congestion.
* After tomorrow's 90-minute service at St Mary's, Sir Ed's casket, accompanied by family members and close friends, will be driven through the Auckland Domain before his remains are cremated in a private service.
* A free shuttle bus will operate between Britomart and Holy Trinity Cathedral every 10 minutes between 7am and midnight today and every 30 minutes between midnight and 5am tomorrow. It will also operate between Britomart and the Auckland Domain between 8.30am and 3pm tomorrow, departing every 10 minutes.
- With NZPA, NZ HERALD STAFF
