Anna's dream girl ‘MY LIFE HAS CHANGED FOREVER!'

The Kiwi actress opens up about her daughter’s milestones and her long-distance marriage

- SEBASTIAN VAN DER ZWAN

For most people, the idea of flying long-haul with a baby – even without a global pandemic and two weeks of managed isolation at the end of it – would be a nightmare, but for Anna Hutchison, the whole experience was “magical”.

In July, the former Go Girls and Shortland Street actress jetted back to Aotearoa from her home in Los Angeles with her then-11-month-old daughter Joanie Pearl to film the upcoming Kiwi romantic-comedy A Love Yarn.

“LAX was like a ghost town, but I was so hopeful and excited to get to New Zealand, it didn’t worry me,” tells Anna, 34. “And Joanie’s just the most incredible baby – the flight was actually easier with her because I had this gorgeous little mate as a travel buddy.”

And as for a fortnight trapped in an Auckland hotel room together? “We loved it!” she grins. “There’s nothing in my life I’ve ever enjoyed as much as being a mum and I got to do that intensely for two weeks. All our food and laundry was taken care of, and time just flew by.

“We had a little schedule – we’d wake up, have brekkie, sing along to Edith Piaf, read books, go for a walk… She learnt to say ‘bird’ and point them out.

“I didn’t pack enough books and got a bit sick of reading the same ones, but otherwise we just had a ball.”

And wee Joanie also achieved a milestone in the hotel room, taking her very first steps!