Eye tests

Today has been much nicer than yesterday, albeit with a cold southerly wind blowing. We set off at 1:10pm on a 20-minute walk to catch a bus to Grafton, where we were booked in for eye tests at the University of Auckland Optometry Clinic, which is a teaching clinic. It’s only $10 for “seniors” for a comprehensive examination that thoroughly checks vision and ocular health.  My prescription has changed, so I’m going to need new glasses, which the clinic can also provide. Hubby’s prescription hasn’t changed. It was too late and I was too tired to start thinking about choosing new frames, so I’ll have to go back next week to sort that out.

Outside the building is a piece of sculpture called Hygeia by New Zealand sculptor, Terry Springer. On one side of the statue is the face of the classical goddess of healing Hygeia, often associated with physicians. This is the side I’ve captured in my blip.  On the other side of her head the two hands are in the form of a young person’s hand reaching down to lift up an older person, with sprigs of flax to honour traditional Māori medicine. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to spend time taking two photos, as our bus home was rapidly approaching.

There are 7,423 new community cases today, and the seven-day rolling average is 6,114 compared to 4,817 last Thursday. The number of people in hospital is 411, including 6 in ICU. Today another 19 deaths have been reported, bringing the total number of deaths to 1,522 and the seven-day rolling average to 13.