A magic milestone “I've found myself at 40”

Beloved TVNZ weather presenter Renee Wright admits she still doesn’t have all the answers, but after celebrating a big birthday, she tells Nicky Pellegrino she has found a way for her and her family to thrive.

- Nicky Pellegrino

Don’t get Renee Wright wrong – she really loves this stage of her life. It’s just that she can’t quite believe she has reached it already. The TVNZ weather presenter has celebrated two milestones recently. First the 10th anniversary of her marriage to Charlie Waide and now her 40th birthday.

Her days are busy, the years seem to be flying by and, like most of us, when Renee looks back, she doesn’t know where the time has gone. Facing 40, she admits, has been particularly mind-boggling.

“I remember when my parents turned 40 and I thought, ‘Wow, that’s old.’ And now I’m 40 and I don’t feel old, but I guess I am. In the TVNZ newsroom, seeing the young ones coming through, that’s a bit of a reminder. But it’s good, it’s exciting and it feels like life is very full at this stage.”

Every decade of Renee’s life has seemed distinctly different so far. “In my twenties, I was trying to build my career and find out who I was,” she recalls. “And my thirties were spent having children.”

Ten years ago, Renee and Charlie exchanged their vows at a spring wedding in the Wairarapa. A traditional girl, Renee married in a church, St Anthony of Padua in Martinborough. Afterwards, there was a reception held at Wharekauhau Country Estate, where the rooms and marquee were filled with hundreds of flickering candles.