AUCKLAND (AFP) -- Thousands of mourners gathered in Auckland on Tuesday to bid farewell to New Zealand's national hero Edmund Hillary, the first man to stand atop Mount Everest, at a rare state funeral.

New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark was among about 600 guests attending the funeral in St Mary's church, along with Hillary's widow June and other family members.
High-level representatives from Australia, Britain, Canada, India, Ireland and the United States also were in attendance.
Hundreds more gathered in the adjacent Holy Trinity Cathedral, where Hillary's body lay in state on Monday, while thousands watched on huge screens in several parts of the city.
Hillary, who died on January 11 of a heart attack aged 88, reached the 8,848-meter (29,028-foot) summit with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay on May 29, 1953.
Norbu Tenzing Norgay, the eldest son of Hillary's companion on Everest, was to address mourners. Four surviving members of the British-led expedition also attended the funeral.
After making history on Everest, and more adventures in the Himalayas and Antarctica, Hillary devoted much of the rest of his life to building schools and hospitals in Nepal.