Day Thirty-Three

While I felt relatively safe atop my cactus-circled pillar as I knew exactly what mobs were around me, I was sharply aware of just how easy it would be for me to fall to my death. I spent the entire night crouching, watching the mobs walk back and forth over the desert.

Nearly morning

So many creepers!

Oh wait. Some of those are cacti.

Muhaha!

Once the burning was over, one lone spider that had maneuvered around my defenses was left attacking my pillar. The creepers on the southern hill seemed disinterested in me. I dismantled my furnace and workbench and dug away at my pillar until I was low enough to shoot at the spider.

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My saviors.

A fitting monument.

Atop my pillar I had seen that the desert did not continue east, instead I trailed off beyond the southern hills. Instead, my path leveled out onto a plain of dry grass.

Looking east.

I turned around at the sound of footsteps and saw the creeper a second too late.

Enough time to take a screenshot. Not enough time to prevent the inevitable.

I fell back as the creeper exploded, managing to only take two hearts of damage. It turns out there is a cavern beneath the desert, which is where it must have snuck up from.

Floating sand.

I resisted the urge to destroy the desert with a single swipe of my shovel. That would not be the nomad way. Instead, I turned and continued east. For a time the land was flat and unremarkable. Occasionally I glimpsed a northern coast and the ocean beyond. But for the most part there was just dead grass and the occasional tree until a narrow lake forked my path.

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I took the northern shore as it seemed to lead more directly east. Apart from the water now on both sides, the land continued uneventfully.

Mountains ahead. (And a cloud that looks like a minecrafter!)

Beyond the mountains the grass was greener and forested.

Looking east.

I stuck to to the northern face of the next hill and came across an interesting monument. Unfortunately, the density of the trees made photographing it difficult.

A crazy overhang.

Check out the floating tree.

I passed through the gap beneath the overhang and besides the pillar. On the eastern side the overhang continued. Just beyond was a beach and an ocean branching off to the horizon.

Looking back from the beach. Can't see the forest for all the damn trees.

Snowy peaks to the north.

I crafted a boat and was on my way.

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And in my boat I spent the rest of the day. Although land passed me by several times, there was always a clear, ocean path east so I stayed in my boat. There is really nothing else to say of the day, so instead allow the pictures of my afternoon sailing do the talking for me.

Around some islands.

Through a canyon.

A rather large desert stretched off to the south.

Island pigs!

A rather intimidating mountain on a southern continent. I followed its coast to photograph it from behind.

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Looking back south-west at the mountain.

The ocean continues.

Islands ahead, but the ocean continues east.

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Another continent to the south.

Looking east. I sailed a bit to the north and stuck to the sea.

Sun sinking behind me.

Looking south.

I had been in this boat for a long time, at least half the day. Now that the sky was darkening, I considered my options. I could always keep going; no mobs would attack me at night. But what if I missed an amazing landmark? No. I would continue to only travel at night. But would I spent the entire night just sitting in my boat? That could be a bit boring. I was ready to try sleeping atop a pillar again, but I still have bad memories about my night at sea. And then I saw my answer, just to the north.

Hmm. That is a convenient little island...

I pulled ashore and hastily placed torches around the island's perimeter.

.

.

As the stars came out, I still felt exposed. Being on land at night without a roof over my head just felt wrong. I had just enough dirt and glass on me to make a small shelter, and that I did.

Safe.

In a shelter on an island of torches in the middle of the ocean. This is perhaps the safest I have felt on my entire trip. Nothing could possibly go wrong here...

Day Thirty-Two

All night I was accompanied with the hissing of spiders. They were directly above me. I had no idea how I would get out without them dropping on me. I didn't really have anywhere to run. Eventually, the sunrise begin to split the horizon like a scar.

.

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I had what I thought was a clever idea. Instead of breaking the glass, I would dig beneath it and swim out to a safe distance before rising to the surface. The genius of this idea seemed reinforced by the fact that I found a vein of iron just one cube beneath my feet.

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The swimming part didn't really work. The current kept pushing me back, and I could not get deep enough. Nor would I make it that far before running out of breath. Instead, I dug out a new path beside the glass and just ran and jumped into the water. I looked back behind me, but the spiders seemed disinterested. Perhaps they grew bored while I wasted my time digging.

Making a swim for it.

Just outside my camp, I found several large deposits of clay. I considered mining them, but I was already carrying around enough of the stuff.

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Moving on, I set out on the boat I had crafted the previous night.

But first, I need to make a brief stop.

Whoops.

There we go.

I crafted a new boat and was on my way. For a time there was only me and the ocean.

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Land off to the south.

Water water everywhere.

Land ahoy.

Cows on the mountain (looking north-east).

Much like the previous continent, I came to shore on the northern tip of a desert. The bulk of the desert disappeared to the south, but the occasional plain of sand and cacti jutted out into my path as I climbed the hills to the east.

Looking south.

The view north from atop the mountain.

My path east.

I followed the mountains around their southern faces. Trees were sparse and animals sparser. Perhaps the desert was slowly taking over all the land. After a while, the ground flattened out and began to funnel me into a deep valley heading north-east.

Looking north-east towards a waterfall.

An interesting monument to the south-east, pointing back west.

Oh. Hello there.

 Somehow I completely missed the tunnel leading east before I approached the monument. Through it was the tallest freefalling waterfall I could ever remember seeing. I abandoned the north-east-heading canyon and headed through the arch.

Heading through.

That is pretty amazing.

Looking north from the base of the waterfall.

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The base of the fall. Looks like the gravel fell and allowed the waterfall to exist.

I don't think I could take too many photos of this waterfall.

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Nearby I found a deposit of ore. Then, heading on, I looked north and glimpsed yet another waterfall.

Looking north.

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Looking north. An utterly breathtaking waterfall. Would be even more so if I had not just seen the other one.

I exited the northern canyon from the same path I entered it and continued east. Mere steps later, I spied several jack-o-lanterns to the north and another two deposits of iron. I left the pumpkins, but mined all the iron. Each vein was quite deep, giving me about ten blocks of ore.

Pumpkins and iron to the north.

Looking back west at the waterfall.

I hadn't realised how high up that floating island is.

I won't lie. I honestly considered quitting the nomad life right here. These floating islands, these waterfalls, this land were all stunning. I could gladly live out my days in this land, exploring its caverns. I stood still for several moments, just gazing around me and weighing up my options. I guess in the end, pure instinct got the better of me and I found myself once again walking east. Once I could no longer see the waterfall, I was happy with the decision. Looking at these pictures again now, though, I wonder if I should have stayed.

Anyway, the land narrowed after a time between mountains to the south and an encroaching sea from the north. The grass was a dark green and thickly forested.

Looking south-east.

East.

A peculiar patch of gravel.

As I inspected the gravel, I could hear the moaning of zombies. It grew louder as I moved forward. Thinking there may be a dungeon open to the sun nearby, I followed the sounds to the northern beach. I could see nothing but the moans were louder still. I dug out a single cube beneath me and found a wide cavern. I dug out more cubes and let the sun flow in. The zombies began burning instantly, but there was no dungeon to be seen.

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Between the waterfalls and now the time spent opening up this cavern, I had spent most of the afternoon.

Day nearly over.

I followed the coast east and soon came across an expansive desert.

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Camp time.

I was about to start digging out my camp when I had another idea. Perhaps I could build a tower instead of dig a hole. A commenter suggested it a couple of days ago, and I had already done it once, though not voluntarily. I was wary. More so of falling than of being ambushed by mobs. But it was not like I needed to mine resources. After today, I had plenty of iron. I decided I might as well give it a try. I created a perimeter of torches and cacti, then began building with the dirt I had excavated from the cavern.

This is either a great idea or a stupid idea.

Well the view is good, at least.

A bit roomier than last time, at least.

...or not.

At least that part of the plan worked.

The spiders, zombies, and skeletons threw themselves on the cacti all night. I did not have much to do up on my tower, but I felt safer than the last few nights underground. I just had to figure out how to get down in the morning without a creeper blowing me up...