New Zealand ? Sherpas laid prayer scarves on Sir Edmund Hillary’s coffin as thousands across New Zealand bade farewell to the Mount Everest conqueror today. An honor guard held ice axes aloft as his casket was carried through their lines.

About 500 New Zealand and international dignitaries joined the Hillary family at a state funeral in St. Mary’s Anglican Church in Auckland, while thousands gathered at big screen venues in cities nationwide to pay respects to Hillary.

The enormously popular adventurer died of a heart attack on Jan. 11 at the age of 88.

“In reality he was a colossus, he was our hero, he brought fame to our country … but above all we loved Sir Ed for what he represented – a determination to succeed against the odds,” Prime Minister Helen Clark told mourners.

Hillary had asked that his ashes be scattered on Auckland’s Waitemata Harbor, perhaps to wash ashore “to complete the cycle of my life.”