I did have my moments of despair. It was certainly not - it's not an experience I would like to have again. And then June came along.

[Derek] Shackleton was a man who - it's probably arrogant to say it - but he was a little bit like me. He undertook incredible dangers and carried on over the sea and over the ice and all the rest of it. He was a remarkable man.

I was a dreamer when I was at high school and even primary school. I used to dream about doing adventurous things.

No one remembers who climbed Mount Everest the second time.

We had so much in common [with June Hillary] that we just carried on with life as we had been doing. It wasn't easy, but it was - I realise now that it was the only thing to do.

I had never experienced anything like it before and I don't think I have experienced anything like it since [on Ruapehu]. It was my dreams coming true in a way, and from there on I tended to become more of a doer than a dreamer.

Nothing can replace courage, a resounding motivation and that little bit of luck.