I have to admit I do get a bit depressed at times and you know I think about the good old days when I was charging ahead.

I found fear stimulating. Particularly after you've done something that you'd been frightened of at the time, but you carried through and did the job.

As a youngster I was a great dreamer, reading many books of adventure and walking lonely miles with my head in the clouds.

It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.

I had a very strong desire to carry out adventures, but in those early days I didn't actually do any. I just dreamt about it.

I still had the same affection for New Zealand as I've always had. Didn't change at all.

I have no desire to live anywhere else but New Zealand. I've had the good fortune to travel widely around the world, but New Zealand is home - and I like to be here. I'm proud to be a New Zealander.