Lisa Harrow's Kiwi adventure MY LIFE'S MADE UP OF LITTLE MIRACLES

Love has brought the veteran actress home and she couldn’t be more excited

- Fleur Guthrie

When Kiwi screen legend Lisa Harrow and her husband, acclaimed marine biologist Roger Payne, touched down in New Zealand in December 2019, it was supposed to be a three-month stay.

The couple planned to avoid winter in America, where they live in “the middle of the woods” in Vermont, and soak up a Kiwi summer with Lisa’s son Tim, his wife and their three young children.

But just before they were due to fly back in early March, Lisa decided she wanted to stay a bit longer to celebrate family birthdays in April and that Roger should go ahead without her.

Then Covid hit and the country closed before she could leave. It’s now been 15 months since she’s seen him and admittedly, while there have been times of loneliness, the 77-year-old can also see the blessings in disguise.

“It’s been an unexpectedly long stay, but I haven’t minded. I love being home,” says Lisa, chatting to the Weekly from her apartment in West Auckland.

“It’s wonderful that I’ve got to spend a lot of time with my grandchildren and also my older brother, who has Parkinson’s disease and isn’t well.

“I have type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis, which means a certain immune problem, plus my age makes me vulnerable, so my husband said, ‘You’re not flying back to America until you’re vaccinated and it’s safe to travel.’”

Lisa and Roger, 86, talk three times a day via FaceTime and she finds it amusing they spend more time talking to each other now than ever before.