Anini Beach 20 July 2017 : Caspar Institute

We meant to make a quicker start this morning, but it was 11 by the time we headed out toward the end of the road. Passing Wainiha, we stopped at Sushi Girl's for sushi, thinking to take it on to Haena and Ke'e, old favorite beaches at the end of the road. The dozen one-lane bridges haven't discouraged traffic, and so it seems everyone wants to drive out to Tunnels and the end of the road ... and park. We sorta found a parking place at Tunnels, but Chad had driven beyond; we gave up our spot and passed him just as we started a narrow stretch. Persisting, we again found a place to park, but then Chad caught up, and we decided the mile walk from our parking place to the beach wasn't worth the girls' resistance, so we headed back home. Tried to find a parking spot in Hanalei, but no such luck. No problem finding a spot at Dolphin Fish Market, where we bought $50 worth of Mahi Mahi. Returned to our house on Anini to eat our excellent sushi.

Lindsey comes back with GoPro footage of an encounter with turtles just off our beach.

Too often we find ourselves in Paradise with a very poor internet connection. Makes me want to post smaller pages with smaller images. No reason for it except stingy cable internet providers ... and customers streaming a lot.

Off to the Kilauea Farmers Market at 4:30. Lots of duplication, and a lot of gorgeous fruit. We bought pineapple, mango, watermelon, longan, papaya, avocado -- the ones on the tree in our yard aren't nearly ripe yet. Plus corn and lettuce.

About 16 stalls, and plenty of people coming from all around. The next north shore farmers market is in two days. Farmers Markets are the new big thing here in Hawaii.

Big contrast when we go to the supermarket in Princeville: lots and lots of name brands, but not much alternative choice. Milk and cheese of course all imported, as with the vegetables (but this is true in Fort Bragg, too.)

After starting the fish chowder, Rochelle and I take a walk up the beach to the state park and back. Beautiful golden sand beach. When we get back, Lindsey is lamenting her GoPro turtle footage: a turtle butt, reminiscent of the fish butts we always managed to take with our underwater cameras.

Plenty of geckos. This one was flirting his dewlap at a nearby female, but he wouldn't display while I looked at him. All the pesticides have pretty much wiped out any megafauna we might have seen. Not a single mongoose or cane toad sited yet.

Lindsey, the intrepid snorkeler, reports that if you go far enough out toward the edge of the reef, there are still fish. I'll probably try to get that far out tomorrow, but I'm no longer as adventurous as I was last time we stayed at Anini (27 years ago.)