Day 14 - Cliffs

I set off bright and early, heading into the rocky, mountainous area where I knew I would be skirting around the base of the cliffs and probably doing a bit of swimming too. I could climb up and over instead, but that would involve a lot of effort and although the views from the top might be nice they probably wouldn't be worth it.

At one point as I was looking across the water at the large structure I had seen yesterday I caught a glimpse of an enderman moving along one of its ledges. It is visible in this next screenshot about a third of the way up, but only just when zoomed right in.

I had to walk by some very dark areas on my journey today, some of them filled with the moans and groans of zombies, but I didn't stop to play. Progress was slow enough with all the cliffs, I wanted to make at least some distance today.

I often found myself walking under great towers of stone and dirt. At one point I passed under an overhang of sand with a pig surveying the area from a high vantage point. I felt like I was trespassing in his land.

I set up home for the night near a particularly impressive mountain with sheer cliffs and multiple waterfalls.

After improving my stone supplies I made another bed and went to sleep.

Day 13 - Animals

Opening the front door in the morning light I was greeted by the sight of several pigs splashing about in the water, obviously enjoying their freedom from the night of skeleton attacks.

I set off along the grassy banks of the river, enjoying the scenery as I went.

At one point I passed a pit with a couple of pigs trapped helplessly in the bottom.

Sorry piggies, there was no time to stop and rescue you. I was on a mission. Eventually the wooded, grassy area ended and I was back in the desert, passing by the village I visited recently on the other side.

I didn't linger here but headed deeper into this territory. Ahead I could see some fascinating rocky structures which I wondered if I'd be passing any time soon.

It soon transpired that I wouldn't have to wait long. My route around the coastline took me into the mountainous zone and I was once again hopping along the base of cliffs.

I managed to get a good view of the crazy rock formations before heading down a river inland.

At the end of the river I found a waterfall pouring from a mountainside into a small pool which was full of sheep playing together in the fading light.

Fairly soon the pool was still full of sheep, but they were sheep minus their woolly coats, and I was a whole lot of wool richer. It was, however, very dark by now. I quickly dug into the hillside, threw down a bed and slept the night.

Day 12 - Falling Down

I wasn't sure how much of the day I'd missed by being in a mine far underground, but the sun didn't appear to be very high in the sky so I guessed not much. I looked back at my overnight home as I set off.

I continued on my desert-river exploration, wondering how long it would continue before I got back to a wider body of water. After a few twists and turns, I encountered a lone creeper who threw himself onto my sword.

And then, finally, ahead I could see the river widening out and a whole new tree-filled area becoming visible.

I still had a few bits of desert to navigate, but then I was stepping off the sand and onto grass. Or at least I would be if my way wasn't blocked by a tree and a protective cow.

Yes, it was nice to be out of the desert, but now I was having to wind my way through the trees, or hack my way through their leaves when they were too thick to go round. I passed an interesting looking ravine carved into the hillside beside the shore, with a tree growing at the bottom of it.

I now appeared to be following another river, slightly narrower than the desert one. It curved around taking me past the other end of the ravine and on through the trees.

It was not long after I'd taken this picture that I noticed a large hole carved into the landscape. I wandered over to get a closer look. It was enormous.

I inched my way forwards, trying to get a look over the edge to see how deep it went, my finger glued to the sneak key to prevent me falling in. Oops. Either I wasn't holding down the key I thought I was, or I wasn't pressing it well enough or something. I plummeted into the depths!

As I found myself standing at the bottom of the hole, one little heart of life remaining, looking back up at the surface way above me, I realised I couldn't remember when I'd last slept. If the fall had killed me I'd have probably woken up miles from here and had to spend a day or two retracing my steps.

My next problem was how to get out. There were a lot of overhangs above me, which would be annoying if I tried to carve out steps. I decided to have a look around. A cave went in a vaguely upwards direction, so I headed in, planting torches to light my way. Ahead, I could see sunlight - this might be an escape route.

It was. I emerged, blinking, into the trees. Now where was the river from here?

I soon found it, edged by the blocks I place as I travel. I moved on. My unexpected diversion had eaten into the daylight hours and it was already dusk. I found a small hollow to put a home in.

Naturally at this point I completely forgot I hadn't slept for several nights and set about digging a network of tunnels.

Having discovered precisely nothing, I went back to the entrance to make a bed but was surprised by a knock* at the door. It was a pig, wanting to come in.

This was unusual. I put in a window beside the door to get a better view and now I could see why the pig wanted to come in. It was being poked by a skeleton's bow and arrow.

And then the sun came up, the pig ran off and the skeleton burst into flames.

* The pig might not have actually knocked, but it was at the door so I'm sure if it could have it would have.

Day 11 - Back Down The River

I stepped out into a new morning and was greeted by the warming sight of a creeper leaping towards me. I dispatched it quickly and took the gunpowder it left behind.

About to set off on the day's travels, I was surprised by a second creeper who had been sneaking around behind the hill and now decided to attack. This one managed to explode, taking a couple of hearts of damage from me. I had a look around to see if they had more friends, but the coast now seemed clear. I could go.

I continued on my way, following the river through the sandy dunes. It was a rainy day and there wasn't much of interest to look at, so I was determined to make good progress and to get back to somewhere more scenic. Eventually I reached the source of the river - just a few blocks from the start of another river that I had previously visited.

I turned round and followed the opposite bank through the valley, following the river back downstream. The rain started to play tricks on me. It would randomly stop and start, then rain on one part of ground but not the part next to it, and then it decided to create splashes in the water where it wasn't raining, and generally confuse me. Here's a photo of it raining only the right-hand side of the screen:

On my way back down the river I passed by the village that I had seen on my way up, and as I was on the right side of the water this time I gave it a visit.

I had wondered if this was the same village that I'd spent the night in, but no - wandering around it proved it was a new location; a slightly different layout and on much flatter land. I didn't loiter there, I was eager to get on with the day's walk.

I entered a heavily wooded area with a couple of pigs rummaging around. Only one was swimming today. I stocked up with pork and wood.

Night started to fall, so I dug myself a small shelter and set up camp.

My supplies of coal were, as ever, getting low, so I dug a spiral staircase down into the rock to try to find some. I had to go quite a long way down, but then broke through into an abandoned mine stocked with wood, coal, iron ore, cobwebs and, for the first time in this world, a chest.

In this, I got my first melon seeds. I presumed I had to plant these somewhere and then I would get some melons?

A nice idea, but with my daily travels I might never return to where I'd planted them, so perhaps I'd hang on to them for now. Returning to the surface, I noticed that daylight had already returned.

Day 10 - Deserts And Rivers

I stepped out of the house, swinging my sword at the spider before it had even realised I'd moved. A couple of slashes and it was reduced to a single piece of string. I turned around, ready to head back down to the coast, only to be confronted by a creeper almost on top of me already. I swung at it, but it was too late - it was charging up to detonate. I leapt back as it exploded, blowing a huge hole in the middle of the village.

 I gathered up the sand, which might be useful as my glass supplies were down to the last block, and left the village. Back at the edge of the water where I had ended yesterday's walk, I set off again. I seemed to be following the bank of a long, winding river with desert on my side and some thick woods on the other side.

It wasn't long before I passed right by the settlement where I had spent last night.

I took the opportunity to pop in to make myself a replacement axe which I had forgotten to do when my last one wore out and to gather some wheat with which to make bread. Perhaps I should have done these things earlier before leaving, but sometimes I'm just impatient to get on with the day's travels.

Back on the banks of the river, I followed its twists and turns through yet more desert.

The opposite bank always seemed to have the more interesting things on it. I spotted a herd of pigs frolicking about on the grass over there as if to say "yes it is greener over here", but I refused to cross. Perhaps I will return along that side later today?

But no, the river wound on and on. I was getting confused as to which way I was going and how this all fitted together. It didn't quite feel as if I was going in circles, but maybe spirals. At one point I spotted some buildings around the next corner and it looked as if I was going to be returning to the same village as yesterday, but the river curved away before getting too close so I don't know if it was the same place or not.

Night was approaching rapidly, and I was still in the desert area, so I hurried along in the hope that I would find somewhere easier to dig in for the night. But no, it started to get dark, so I dug myself a small shelter in the sandy banks beside the water and roofed it over with dirt.

 

Once safely inside, I made myself a shiny new iron pickaxe and went digging down for coal.

I hadn't gone too deep before I broke into a deep, dark underground space.

I explored it thoroughly, and it did yield some coal but nothing else unfortunately. By the time I got back upstairs, it was morning.

Day 9 - A Deserted Village

It was a long climb back up to the surface so the sun was already well up into the sky by the time I made it to ground level. I had a quick look around to remind me exactly where I was - not far from the first group of mountains I had encountered way back at the beginning.

Then I set off on what turned out to be an easy day's travel. The coastline around this part of the world was reasonably level and easy to walk along. I came very close at one point to the opposite bank where I had planted a stone/torch marker just a few days ago.

Then, after a very short staring contest with a swimming cow, I headed out of the swamp zone and back into desert territory.

I was once again in need of coal, so stopped off at an exposed wall of stone where a few nuggets were available, wary of all the overhanging sand above.

Just as the sun was nearing the horizon, I spotted some structures way across in the middle of the desert. This was my first glimpse of a village.

It wasn't exactly on the coastline, but I thought I'd make an exception for tonight. I headed across the sand towards the buildings, leaving a trail of stones to follow back in the morning, and had a quick look around before the creatures of the night put in an appearance.

I climbed up onto the roof of one house to watch the last rays of the sun vanishing before seeking shelter in the nearest building with a door.

This night I spent cooking various meats I had gathered, smelting iron ore and turning trees into charcoal to boost my torch collection. A spider turned up at the window to watch me.

And then, sunrise.