After a dramatic stint in Europe, hard-working journalist Mei Heron and her whānau are busy rebuilding their lives in Wellington. Photo / Nicole Edmonds
When TVNZ reporter Mei Heron accepted the role of European correspondent in 2022, she knew it was the opportunity of a lifetime.
Sure, it would be tricky to balance being a mum to two young preschoolers with being on call at all hours – but she didn’t count on just how many groundbreaking events she’d be called to cover.
Mei hit the ground running with some of the biggest news stories of our time: Boris Johnson resigned as Britain’s PM on her first day, Liz Truss imploded after just 49 days in the same job and Queen Elizabeth II died. A few months later, she was on a plane to Ukraine.
It was an incredible training ground, with stories and opportunities journalists dream of. It also meant Mei got used to being live on camera.
She smiles, “It was full-on and I got really comfortable on air really fast. All the nerves just disappeared.”
When the Heron family landed in Europe, her daughter Emiko was 5 months old, her son Malachi had just turned 3 and her husband Stephen had stepped back from his career as a physiotherapist to become a fulltime stay-at-home dad.
“I thought it would be a juggle, but I didn’t realise it would be that much of a juggle so early on,” laughs Mei, 32.
“I was running to a portaloo to pump in between live crosses and thinking, ‘What is my life?’ When I interviewed for the job, I had a 3-week-old – I joke that I was still high on the labour drugs when I accepted the gig!”
Mei experienced an incredible whirlwind few years covering world-shifting events: the war in Ukraine, earthquakes in Turkiye and Syria, the King and Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses, Charles’ coronation, riots in Paris, the Olympics and the Rugby World Cup. She visited more than 20 countries in that time.
“The travel was incredible – for work and family breaks,” says Mei. “We got to see so much of the world. Malachi became obsessed with air traffic control. His dream is to be the controller at Heathrow or Beijing. His world view is huge now.”
While Mei reported to the nation, Stephen, 38, held down the fort at home – no easy feat with two kids under the age of 5 and no local support system.
“He did amazing,” Mei enthuses. “It wasn’t always easy – especially being the only dad at the weekday parent things – but he feels lucky to have had that much quality time with our kids when they were that young.”
Over time, the family found themselves welcomed by a supportive group of neighbours, friends and churchgoers.
She explains, “We had a big community and we looked after each other’s kids, taking them to swimming and extracurriculars. I’d come home to other people’s kids running around our house and vice versa – we lived in that kind of lovely community. We were so lucky.”
It wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows, though. At times, Mei admits she struggled with balancing her busy role and family life.
“It was a tricky dynamic with me working and Stephen with the kids,” she recalls. “Sometimes it was easier when I wasn’t there, dipping in and out, disrupting the routine. I’d come home 20 minutes before bedtime and wonder if I should even go in. I’d just stand outside the house, watching the clock. It was lonely.”
But the positives outweighed the negatives and the experience has set them in good stead.
Mei explains, “Now our understanding of each other is so much greater, and it’s been amazing for our parenting and relationship. We both see what it takes to run the house. Stephen understands the mental load. He doesn’t want to plan the dinners either!”
Mei says being a new mum meant some of the news stories she covered hit her harder than they might have previously, including the heartbreaking sight of kids in Ukraine building snowmen beside military tanks.
Because of the nature of the job and needing to be across breaking stories, Mei would race off at a moment’s notice to make sure she was on site for important stories as they unfolded. For some, she had to spend extended time away from their London base.
“When Emi was 1, I was away at the World Cup for nearly two months,” she recalls. “When I came home, she didn’t know who I was and wouldn’t touch me for three days. That destroyed me, but she doesn’t remember that now. I do, but thankfully I’m an adult, so I can process it.”
After a massive few years of big stories, Mei says she was “running on fumes” in her final weeks in the role, as the family counted down to their return to Aotearoa.
“I was crawling to the finish line!” she exclaims. “The Pope died in those last weeks, so I was in Rome for week-long blocks, then Türkiye for Anzac Day. There were weeks with very little sleep, really missing Stephen and the kids.
“But at the same time, I knew I was doing work I’d always wanted to do and possibly wouldn’t have those opportunities again. Covering stories of that scale is surreal – you know you’ll be telling your grandchildren about it one day and yet, in the moment, you’re just trying to get every detail right… and trying not to think about getting home to your own bed!”
The family was excited to return to New Zealand in July, ready to greet old friends and family, and start a new chapter. They’re now living in Wellington, just five doors down from Malachi’s school and close to Emi’s kindergarten.
“It was a hard transition because we loved our life in London,” Mei tells. “My kids and I were in tears saying goodbye, but it’s good to be back.”
Back at TVNZ, Mei has rejoined the capital’s newsroom and quickly got back into the swing of things, doing stories for 1News and TVNZ+. For the first time in a long time, she’s not constantly on call.
The star reporter’s grateful for her new role and with the more family-friendly hours – even though she sometimes needs to be reminded of that.
Mei laughs, “My boss kindly reminded me, ‘You’ve got enough of a challenge for now,’ when I was musing what else I could do. But yes, I need to resist the urge to leap into another big challenge and instead make the most of this time to take stock.
“My main focus for now is getting the kids sorted and our family settled back in Aotearoa.”
Her return to Wellington has also reminded her of the value of community.
She says, “On my first day back, I interviewed a man whose wife’s parents had married us, a person whose daughter I went to high school with and one of Stephen’s patients. Only in New Zealand!”
Their kids are still adjusting to having mum home on weekends. Malachi, now 6, is endlessly curious, a chatterbox, and obsessed with geography, football and planes, while 3-year-old Emi is a firecracker – cheeky, high-energy and always up for a challenge.
“She’s a riot,” Mei laughs. “She loves doing what she shouldn’t. She keeps us on our toes.”
Mei describes their parenting style as “over-communicators” – as you’d expect from someone who informs others for a living. She muses that it might be backfiring: “The other day, my son said, ‘My punishment is disproportionate to my actions,’ and I thought, ‘OK, we’ve equipped you with too big of a word there!’”
After 11 years of marriage – they met at a sports camp where she wasn’t that interested until he let her cut in front of him at McDonald’s – Mei and Stephen are looking forward to crafting their future in New Zealand. Stephen has re-registered as a physio and is restarting his business, and they’re enjoying reconnecting with friends, hanging out as a whānau, and discovering local cafes and parks.
“We have six different sports balls and love a bit of family-friendly competition at the park, playing volleyball or kicking a ball around,” says Mei, who is also soaking up the simple joys she missed while living overseas – long walks through the bush, beach trips and seeing family.
“When we were pondering coming home, the thought of sitting in one place by the lake at my parents’ place near Taupō seemed like bliss – just to be still for a bit,” tells Mei, adding that while her role as European correspondent might be over, its impact is lasting.
“That life was addictive. The highs were so high, but it was never going to be sustainable. It was for a season. Now we’re entering a new one – a little less frantic but just as fulfilling.”