Had an early but leisurely morning (between the sun and the roosters crowing at every odd minute, it’s hard to sleep in).  Went to the Kekaha farmers market, which might easily have been confused with a parking lot from a distance.  It had only about eight or ten vendors with little tables — but those little tables were overflowing with produce, from mangoes to papaya to lychee (we bought many of each), from tomatoes to thai basil to long beans.  It was a very successful Saturday market experience.

After shave ice at Jo Jo’s (not our favorite) and buying snacks at the Waimea Big Save, we drove up into Waimea Canyon to start the day’s hike.  Starting at the Pu’u Hinahina lookout (I just like writing that name), we went in on the Canyon Trail, which winds through strawberry guava trees, stands of ginger, and koa forest before breaking out into an open ridge overlooking the canyon.  We continued down, down, down to Waipi’o Falls, where we found a small pool and sat at the top of a giant trickle of water (there wasn’t enough there to call it a waterfall at this time of year) with a tremendous view.

Lunch was in Waimea: we ordered two plates at the Shrimp Station (yummy Thai shrimp!) and two fish tacos at Island Tacos (yummy cajun ahi!), all of which made for a deeply satisfying meal.
Home for some rest.  Here’s the view from our lanai:

Took at break with J to go down to one of the Kekaha beaches, where we stood in the endless sweep of sand and tried (very successfully) not to get sucked under by the rolling waves, which seemed to break and push and pull in every direction.  It was incredibly fun.

Cooked dinner in our little kitchen (an interesting endeavor with three people): eggplant and Hawaiian “spinach” with garlic and ginger; long beans with black bean sauce; and a salad of tomatoes and cucumbers.  Walked over to the road for a walk at the very tail end of sunset.