Day Thirteen

Almost time to get going...

I'm not a superstitious person. But when you are spending your days walking across new lands, when a single misstep could send you tumbling into a pool or lava or a dungeon full of skeletons (which there are a lot of lying around, if those Cartograph numbers are to be believed!) it pays to be careful.

 A spider had been scuttling back and forth over my glass ceiling all night, so I decided on a less orthodox exit, by digging into the river.

Teehee.

There we go.

 The water rushed down the shaft I had dug over night, undoubtedly flooding all the torches I had placed down there. Not that it mattered. Not that I would ever return here. I swam out of the camp and started my day.

Fingers crossed...

Directly east was water. I had picked up my workbench without crafting a boat, though, so I followed the land as it crept to the north. 

.

Following the edge of the island north-east.

I came to a shady knoll beside the water. A pig was out splashing around.

This looks nice.

Morning, Aqua Pig!

Continuing east, it looked like I would finally need that boat.

Boat time.

.

It didn't last long. The land closed in around me and even though I could see more ocean ahead, I had to abandon the boat. Or dig a ravine, which I considered briefly, but it didn't seem like a very nomad thing to do.

The grass was flat for a while, but ocean was ever-present just to the south.

.

Then, after crossing a small inlet, the water was to the north as well.

Looking north.

The woods grew thicker as the land grew thinner.

Trees and water.

A big tree, but the land is running out.

Those are fairly sheer cliffs. Doubt I can swim to shore.

Okay. I guess it is boat time again.

Here we go then.

I followed the cliffs for a time until they swung around north. Then I had to hit the ocean proper for a time until several small islands appeared on the horizon.

Islands!

A literal desert island? (looking south)

Another odd island (looking north)

I made landfall on a weird beach that was part sand and part clay.

.

I gathered some sand before leaving. Mostly for glass, but I had another idea too. See, I had been carrying around a fair supply of gunpowder for some time, ever since I took out those five or six creepers last week. With some sand, I could craft some TNT. What on earth would a nomad want with TNT? Well, it could potentially make my brief mining spouts swifter. I could dig down a shaft, place some TNT, and grab any minerals from the resulting cave. Though, without any redstone to remote detonate, it could be a risky business. I'll craft if for now, and decide later if I use it or not.

Anyway, that is still in the future. For now, I left the beach and kept walking. The ground rose gradually up a hill until I came out on a clearing that looked east towards another grand mountain, though one that looked easily passable.

Hills. Hills. Hills.

Oh. Hello there.

Quite friendly looking, as far as mountains go.

As I drew closer, I spied a cavern digging into the hillside. I decided to check it out briefly.

A cavern...

...of grass?

Yep. A grass cavern. Well there you go.

Leaving the fruitless cavern behind, I began to climb. I barely had to dig away any dirt blocks, the hill was gradual and evenly stepped.

Easy going.

And then I reached the top and saw exactly what I was not expecting. I mean, there is little that I could have seen from the top of this mountain that I was expecting less.

Meep. 0_0*

A cloud. Right in front of my face. And look how high up I was! What the heck?! I was dumbstruck. I had no sense of having climbed so high since leaving my boat. This was incredible. The view just went on in every direction. Amazing! The top of this 'hill' was a mere block wide before dropping straight down. Who would have thought such a friendly looking hill could house such a cliff on its opposite side. I tried to creep closer to take a picture looking down the drop and, uh, fell. Fortunately, some way down, was another single-cube ledge. It still hurt, but my armour took most of the damage.

Ow. Thank you, iron armour!

The view from the 'lower' ledge.

Still quite a long way down...

This ledge put me in no better situation than the last. I had no choice from here but to dig my way down to the more gradual slopes. It was slow work, and I had to mine my way through stone part of the way. Once I got to sea level, I looked back at the rear side of the friendly mountain.

No, really. What the heck, hill?!

 Then I saw the cavern. How could I resist the urge to look inside such a bizarre hill? Just quickly. I clambered back up and ducked inside. There was nothing there, sadly, except a tunnel that hooked around to a northern entrance.

The tunnel and its lack of minerals.

I turned back to head at the water, and looked at the sky for the first time for some minutes.

Oh. Is that the moon?

Yes. Yes it is.

I didn't just want to sit in the tunnel all night--mobs would surely flank me from whatever entrance I wasn't guarding. Instead, I dug down into the east-facing entrance. At least there I would see the sun rise.

Not too bad for a spur of the moment camp.

I dug quite deep that night, but I found nothing. No coal, no iron. Just a heap of stone. I considered crafting my TNT, but had already unthinkingly placed all my sand in the furnace to make glass. Whoops! At least I wouldn't be blowing myself up for at least another day.

And that was the thirteenth. Almost fell to my death once, but otherwise a decent day.

That mountain is still blowing my mind, though.