Day Ten

This had to be the longest night in history. There was nothing I could do but sit there, my eyes drifting skywards to the crawling moon then darting back to the creepers. I considered shooting arrows at them, but I didn't want to aggravate them if they were happy to leave me alone. As the moon eventually sunk below the horizon, I started to edge forward slowly, leaving the creepers to their splashing.

In the pre-dawn, i could see more land to the south, as well as more movement.

I see you, zombie.

Then, at long last:

Yay!

I picked up speed and headed for the sun. Land appeared to the south almost instantly, but it was still some time before my next eastward destination finally rolled over the horizon.

Land ahoy!

And on we go.

 And so my longest ocean adventure thus far at last came to an end. In fact, I was probably beginning the day earlier than any previous. As I had done no mining and used no tools, I had no crafting or smelting to do and could get on with the day straight away. Which, unfortunately, looked like it was going to involve more water.

Looking east from where I docked.

I did not particularly feel like getting back in a boat straight away, so I walked around to the north and followed the land. I collected some sand as I went so I could glass up the entrance to my next camp. Beyond the far side of the lake, it looked like the water was going to leave me alone. The grassy area broadened, and mountains began to climb up from the south. Some rather bizarre mountains, at that.

That's a new one (looking south).

But, alas, it was not to be. Soon enough, the ocean was again in front of me. 

Easier than climbing mountains, I guess.

It was still early and I could see islands peppering the water, so it was not too bad. Still, the previous night was on my mind as I crafted my boat and stepped off the shore.

Some cute little islands.

This tree practically screamed, "Sit under me and read a book!"

It sounds silly, but that above photo is one of my most memorable moments of the day. The minuscule island just looked so relaxing and, well, chilled out. I slowed down the boat just to stare at it for a while longer.  Not long afterward, the islands grew fewer.

Uh oh. Not again...

My anxieties were unfounded. Not far past the horizon, the land rose up again from the south and wrapped around in front of me. This huge ocean looked at last to be over.

South and east as the ocean ends.

Land ahoy! ...again!

I hastened up the hill, eager to see that there was no ocean awaiting me on the other side. I could have cheered aloud when I saw the meadow.

.

Walking! Proper, actual walking! As I went, I chopped down a few trees to replace the wood spent in the past few boats I had crafted. I also found several deep caverns, but I only stopped long enough to take the visible coal.

More caverns left uncharted.

The land began to dip down after a while. One hill took me down into a forest, beneath a thick canopy of leaves.

.

Does Minecraft have ents?

The forest continues north-east between the hills. There was quite literally an endless ceiling of leaves between the trees, with the occasional hole letting in sunlight. I would have liked to trek beneath it for a time, but it looked like it would be too dense to walk through. Instead, I chopped away at some foliage and climbed up the opposite hill.

Several hills later, I paused and looked down. Something was not quite right...

There's something weird about this hill...

Wait. Where's all the grass?

This one mountain jutted bare and barren out of the landscape. Aside from a couple of trees on the southern side, the mountain was sheer stone. I had never seen this before. Things got even stranger on the eastern face.

So strange...

Weeeeeee!

Looking back west at the dead mountain.

So that was strange. Minutes later, I came across a second waterfall on the side of a cliff that I needed to get past.

Double waterfall! Not all the way across, but still. What does it mean?!

The incline seemed less sheer north of the fall so wadded through it and up the other side. The afternoon was getting on by this stage and it had been a long day. Well, a long two days, actually, since I last made camp. Over the cliff, I was funneled into an eastward valley between two mountain ranges.

Looking south.

Looking north.

Looking back west. The day is nearly over.

I found a small cave carved into the east-facing side of a mountain and headed inside.

Been a looong time since I was underground...

It did not go back very far. I placed some torches, my workbench, and my furnace and smelted the sand I had picked up that morning on the beach. By the time I glassed up the entrance, the stars were out. After two very long days, I was finally able to relax.