Guwahati: The Kiwi's adventurous and historical journey through the Himalaya's deep gorges and the Ganga's thunderous rapids has come to a rest at Manas National Park.

The restored Kiwi, a boat used by Sir Edmund Hillary and 15 others in a 1977 expedition called Ocean to the Sky to navigate the waters of the Ganga, will finally be unveiled at the Bansbari range of the national park next Monday.

Three HamiltonJet boats were used in the expedition. The boats traversed the Ganga right from the mouth of the river in the Bay of Bengal high up into the Himalayas.

The party's subsequent climb to an unnamed peak, which they called Akash Parbat (sky peak), was achieved without Hillary, who succumbed to altitude sickness and had to be evacuated.

Following the successful expedition, the boats, Kiwi, plus Air India, and Ganga, were donated for wildlife conservation.

Kiwi has spent the past three decades at Manas National Park but the condition of the boat had deteriorated.

"When the New Zealand High Commission to India learnt that this boat needed to be restored, we decided to get involved to support the restoration of this important piece of our bilateral history. We approached HamiltonJet to see if they were willing to help and they promptly agreed to fund this initiative. The boat has now been lovingly restored to its former glory," the New Zealand High Commission to India said in a statement.

The New Zealand High Commissioner to India, Joanna Kempkers, will unveil the restored boat.

"The boat at Manas testifies to the long-standing historic ties between India and New Zealand. Restoring Kiwi is, therefore, an opportunity to celebrate our contemporary ties and to support Manas national park in its continuing mission to preserve an invaluable part of India's wildlife," said Kempkers.

Field director of Manas Tiger Project H.K. Sarma said tourism promotion issues might be discussed with the high commissioner.