Day Thirty-Eight

A star-less night.

The night was darker than usual. I could see no stars and not even the moon. At first I thought perhaps a large cloud was passing slowly overhead, but then, just before dawn, I realised I had just bumped 'F' and turned the draw distance to short.

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If you look closely, you can just spy a zombie hanging out in the water below the tree.

This was the first night I had spent underground for sometime. I could not hear any mobs, but I still quickly turned as I left to ensure spiders didn't jump down on me.

All clear.

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As I started east, the zombie to the north still stood beneath its tree, safe from the sunlight. Before I traveled behind the next mountain, though, it took one misguided step and flame engulfed it.

So long, zombie.

I continued east up and down hills through a thick wood.

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Underground reeds.

I waded into the lake and looked closer at the reeds. Hidden behind them was an entrance to a deep cavern. I left it and continued on. The woods began to disperse as I headed east.

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Mushrooms!

As the last of the trees were left behind me, a mountain raised up before me. And a creeper.

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I climbed up the lower hill just to the south (above the creeper in the above image).  On the other side was more uneventful land, as well as the tip of a desert to the south near the ocean.

Looking south east.

I walked up and over another mountain and hit an ocean.

Up and over.

Boat time!

(Looking south-east) or maybe not.

I followed the sure around to the south towards the desert. I began to climb the sandy mountain and could spy the sand stretching off east, south, and north.

Approaching the desert.

Climbing up.

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The desert came to an end in a valley of mountains and caves.

The desert continued off to the north.

Gravel pit.

Angry mountain! Grrrr.

I think the desert stretched back around east after it went off to the north and came back down towards me behind another mountain.

Looking north, the desert returns.

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After deserts, mountains, and gravel pits, the flat nothing-ness beyond the waterfall was alarming.

Well that is a lot of... nothing.

Looking back over a mountain at the early afternoon sun.

This lake was probably the most eventful landmark in this area.

The ground must have been rising as I walked as I came to a ledge that looked down into a valley.

Heading into the valley.

Back west from whence I came.

I headed through the gap in the canyon, stopping briefly to pick up some more mushrooms in the shade.

More mushrooms! That is dinner sorted.

The ground rose gradually beyond the valley into another mountain. Down to the north I could see the beginnings of a snow field.

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Snow atop the mountain.

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Looking north.

The ocean came up from the south and threatened to block my path. Fortunately, it was nearly completely frozen over.

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I headed north to move around the water and walked down onto the ice.

Looking back west. The day is nearly over.

Across the ocean.

I crossed over the narrow islands and the frozen ocean continued. I kept expecting it to break up and for me to need to swim, but the ice just kept going.

Beyond the islands.

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Snow island.

I looked back behind me as the sky began to dim and could see nothing but ice.

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I approached land at last, but the snow continued. My day, however, had come to an end. I planted my cacti on the beach by the ice and began to build my tower.

Tomorrow's land.

Setting up camp.

You can't have too many sunset pictures.

Up we go.

Day Thirty-Seven

Before I get started, someone requested to see my inventory, so here you go:

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A couple of notes: every night I craft a chest in which I place all the useless things I pick up during a given day such as dirt blocks and spider webs (and a flower, it would seem). This picture was taken at night, pre-chest, so things are a bit messy. I always carry at least two picks and two spades as well as a single stack of coal and a single stack wood. I live off a diet consisting solely of mushrooms and reuse the same two bowls for my stew. Obviously, this image is also missing the workbench and furnace that are currently set up in the background. So I keep my inventory fairly full, but that is okay as I rarely need to pick up new materials.

Moving on.

The night was a noisy one. There were many mobs moving around in the northern desert as well as a gathering of creepers to the east. The occasional mob stumbling into my cacti created some rather horrifying noises.

Creepers to the east.

Mobs to the north.

I tried taking more photos of mobs hitting the cacti, but the skeletons began firing at me so I gave up.

At last.

Look at them all! (back west)

Uh. Never mind.

I packed up my workbench and my furnace and started my decent. Getting off the tower is always a little scary. Each night I manage to forget which block of my small 2x2 platform is actually above the pillar and almost send myself tumbling to the ground. Part of me is certain that this is how this adventure will one day end: death by falling off my own tower. For today, though, I got down safely.

Not fooling me this time, Creeper!

Day Thirty-Seve, it seems!

(Full disclosure: I guess I should explain why there are two columns of blocks. When I loaded my game to continue my journey, for some reason I seemed to spawn one block too far east. I.e, beside my tower. So the first thing that happened was I fell to the ground, in the middle of the night. I freaked out and ran in circles for a few seconds, and then I quickly built myself back onto the tower. Moral of the story: create a wider platform to sleep on.)

I few creepers were still looming to the east, but I managed to dispatch or avoid them without any explosions. The ground was flat and bare for a time before it started to slowly incline.

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Mountains ahead.

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From the top of a small hill, i looked down into a valley before the cliff-face of a mountain.

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Just to the north, the hill I was on wrapped around and joined to the northern cliffs of the valley. I headed that way to get atop the mountain. I had to watch my step, though.

You wouldn't believe the stress I put myself through to take these photos.

Just to the north of where I climbed was a wide lake.

Looking north.

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As I clambered past the crest of the mountain on the north, I was about to descend down the eastern side when I nearly ended my entire adventure.

Hmm. Perhaps I should move a couple of cubes to the right.

After I climbed down, I looked back at the shaft and realised I had actually been walking atop a massive tunnel. It turns out I could have just entered the previous valley and walked through here instead of climbing over and nearly falling to my death twice.

Looking back south west. The valley is beyond the sunlight.

From where I was, there was no easy way down into the tunnel--nor was there any point as I would just be backtracking. Yet, neither was there a clear path to the east. I was still much higher than the ground from here. Another wide lake was stretching to the east, but I doubted I could jump and make it to the water without hitting the sand below me.

Looking east. Still need a way down, though.

Why hello there, diving board...

I walked to the edge of the outcrop, considered jumping, and backed away. Instead, I found some less-steep ground just to the north and walked down to the shore. From there, it was a quick swim across the lake.

Looking back west.

Beyond the sand was a thick forest. I tall mountain was jutting above the trees to the south. I drifted towards it for a better look.

Looking south.

Ssshhh! A pumpkin gathering!

I decided to leave the pumpkins in peace and follow the land east on the northern side of the water. However, quite quickly it became apparent that that was a bad idea.

Dead end this way.

Instead, I would have to circle back around beyond the mountains to the southern shore where the land continued east unbroken. Back past the pumpkins.

What could they be planning?

A small lake, partially underground.

Continuing east through more woods.

The lake to the north (this is beyond where my first path dead-ended).

The lake wrapped around and cut off my path, but it was a short swim to the other side. Looking back west and south, I could see that this lake was actually an inlet of an ocean from the south.

Looking back south-west, where the lake flows in from the ocean.

On the eastern shore, the forest was no more. To the south was a wide beach and beyond that the ocean I had spied from my short swim. To the east, though, was another hill.

Looking south-east.

The hill was an easy climb and seemed entirely insignificant until I reached the top.

The view east from atop the hill.

It was a fairly amazing canyon. There was no easy way down into it so instead I stuck to the southern cliffs and continued east.

Another small pool, atop the southern cliffs.

Looking north into the canyon, beyond two monuments.

Further east, beyond the canyon, the ocean again came up from the south. But also, the ground declined more gradually and I was able to walk easily back down to sea level.

Ocean from the south.

There was water to the north, too. I continued east on a narrow bridge of land through yet more woods. Another mountain began to rise up before me.

Heading east.

Approaching the mountain.

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I started to climb around the northern side of the mountain as the sky began to darken.

Sun setting back to the west.

And it would seem I took no more photos on this day, somehow. There was no sand in sight so instead I dug a camp in the northern face of the mountain with a doorway looking over the northern water. I'm sure I will take pictures in the morning.