Tauranga delivered its usual charm for CCLS 2026, held at Trinity Wharf. The theme, ‘Eyeland Vibes: The Summer of Anterior Segment and Contact Lenses’, set the tone for a weekend of learning, discussion catching up and a spectacular luau with colleagues from across New Zealand.
This year’s programme had a refreshing focus: better decisions, better outcomes and smarter use of the tools we already have. Encompassing speciality contact lenses and myopia control, to dry eye, keratoconus and anterior segment disease, it was a well-rounded and highly relevant conference.
Two incredible keynote speakers anchored the programme and helped shape the conference.
Dr Elise Chan brought a surgical and clinical perspective that was both detailed and practical. Her talks covered cornea transplants, monitoring glaucoma in graft patients, infectious keratitis and ocular manifestations of rosacea. She reminded us that optometrists are not just passive observers after surgery: they bridge the gap between surgical intervention and functional vision. Through careful monitoring, targeted lens selection and evidence-based management, optometrists can influence long-term outcomes and prevent complications. I found her case-report session incredibly valuable, demonstrating cases ranging from benign versus malignant lesions to complex post-treatment follow-ups that showed the subtlety required in corneal diagnostics and the power of deliberate clinical reasoning.
Dr Akilesh Gokul with keynote Dr Elsie Chan







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