Mercury Bay’s Shonag Laird, Juliet Clague and Lynette Hunter

Lynette and Glenn Hunter are the proud new owners of Coromandel’s Mercury Bay Optometrist.

Lynette Hunter, a former longstanding executive committee member of the Association of Dispensing Opticians NZ, first joined the Mercury Bay team back in 2023 as a dispensing optician. “It has always been a dream of mine to own a practice, so when Brett Howes (former owner) started making noises about retiring, one thing led to another and after discussions and due diligence, Glenn and I advertised for an optometrist.

“Having worked there for the past couple of years, I knew it was a viable business with room for growth and, with the transition of ownership, we’re moving from operating three days a week to five.”

Hunter said she’s excited to welcome optometrist Shonag Laird to Mercury Bay. “Shonag completed her optometry degree with first class honours and has many specialties including myopia control, dry eye management, speciality contact lens fitting, keratoconus and binocular vision care. We’re also lucky to have long-serving support staff member Juliet Clague. Juliet plays a pivotal role as the first point of contact and is very popular and well known to locals as she grew up in Whitianga and has a large family living locally.”

Once a fortnight Mercury Bay Optometrist hosts visiting ophthalmologist Dr Chris Murphy who has been looking after patients in the Coromandel area for more than 20 years, said Hunter.

When asked what attracted the couple to Whitianga and the Coromandel, Hunter said it was the promise of a better lifestyle. “Previously living in a rural town south of Auckland, we were fed up with the commute on the southern motorway, especially Glenn. We haven’t looked back.”