John McKinnon’s introduction to the world beyond New Zealand was in 1964. As a fifth year medical student, he was invited by Ed Hillary to join an expedition to Nepal. His role as climber was to assist the successful first ascent of Mt Thamserku in the Everest Himalaya.

Hillary’s expeditions always had numerous aims. The 1964 expedition built three schools, a major suspension bridge and the Lukla airstrip – now, the most used access to the Everest region. John, along with the other expedition members, were involved in these works.

A few years later John and Diane McKinnon went to Nepal to serve as the first volunteer couple in Hillary’s projects. For two years John was doctor at Khunde village hospital, with Diane teaching at a nearby Hillary school. Those 1960s years deeply changed their lives.

In the sixty years since, they were both intimately involved with the Himalayan Trust – Hillary’s vehicle for aid distribution in Nepal. Diane served on the Board of VSA and for six years was the national chair. Their more conventional life was spent in Nelson. For John as an ophthalmologist and for Diane as home-mother and principal of her specialist travel company.