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Sir Edmund Hillary may have towered over the country with his achievements but to the average New Zealander the approachable mountaineer was only ever a phone call away.
When 14-year-old Ollie Bradshaw had to come up with a 20th century figure for his school project he immediately thought of one of New Zealand's own.
A fourth form boarder at Wanganui Collegiate, he quickly decided on Sir Edmund Hillary.
"He is the greatest New Zealander."
He capitalised on the fact Sir Edmund was living in Auckland and after dinner got on the telephone to directories and was surprised to discover Sir Ed's number was listed.
"I called, got his wife, and introduced myself. She fetched Ed and I spoke to him for about five minutes, asking him questions about climbing and Nepal."
Mr Bradshaw, now a 26-year-old Auckland stockbroker, said it didn't occur to him at the time it could be seen as a bit cheeky. "It was a bit of a punt ... I didn't really think it was a major deal until looking back."
He can remember asking Sir Ed how it felt to have conquered Mt Everest to which the mountaineer had replied that it was "great".
"Out of all the very important people in the country, the fact I could call up the greatest New Zealander out of the blue and he had the time to yarn to a 14-year-old pretty much sums the guy up."
Mr Bradshaw said a client had told him of the news of Sir Ed's passing just as it started breaking on the screens.
His colleagues at the Vero Centre on Shortland St were sad and reflective. Downstairs in the lobby Sir Ed's famous quote "well, we knocked the bastard off" stands out among the quotes from other famous Kiwis.
