Hypnotic Romance – A Romantic Wonderland Part 2
Coming down, I veered off deeper into the landscape. That is one great thing here. I did not have to worry about being in danger or getting lost, or getting robbed, or as a friend pointed out to me, mosquitoes. The ground changed from rocky to one strewn with trampled flowers and vegetation. I saw something glittering at a distance, which, upon closer inspection, was a wooden dance floor by the water’s edge, with lights adorning the floor and the perimeter.
I returned to the curved platform and walked to the other edge. I could not quite make out what was at the end; it looked like a cave so I walked in… and ended dropping down into the water, onto the sea floor. It was a short distance down though, but I was absolutely amazed by what I found there. It was a clearing on an absolutely flat sea floor, the floor covered with lights that kept changing colour. Rocky walls encircled the area, and it had giant flowering plants and mushrooms on the perimeter. Most of these were either artificially lit from below or had their own lighting. They really pulled out all the stops to make this place, a come-fall-in-love one. I walked to and then through what was the brightest part of the cave, which also looked the cave exit. Stepping out, I saw a shoal of fish, and between a valley of rocks, a broken doorway made of wood and stone. The doorway had an arch and patterns, certainly man made.
Still underwater, I walked past the arched doorway into heavy green vegetation with leaves so huge, they were half my size. This felt like part of a sunken city, for I was now in a large room, with walls made of massive stones and even some openings for large windows. Huge vases were in this space, some standing, some horizontal. The fun part was there was a dance pose ball here too. The vegetation was so heavy that I could not see myself sometimes. There was no going anywhere from here, so I retraced my steps – through the man made arch, then the fishes, green vegetation, natural arch, brightly lit plant and finally into the clearing where I had fallen down. The problem was getting back on to land. So, I flew out. From the air, the high swing I was on some time back was now below me some distance away. That acted as my marker and after that it did not take me long to get my bearings. I landed and found my way back to the arched bridge where my underwater adventure had started.
From my previous experience of getting to know a place, I knew it was best to explore a place along its borders as much as I could. I followed the stream, but after some distance it gave way to the sea. A dead end. Or so I thought. I had another occasion to visit the island and this time my spirit of adventure made me wonder if there is anything beyond the hill. The imposing wall of rock and the narrow channel of sea that came through inland gave the impression of an end of region. I decided to climb the cliff face. I did not slide off. A good sign. A few paces up there was a little clearing but it had heavy foliage and blocked my vision. Once I moved through the wooded area, I could see a dance pose ball among the trees; a good sign. It meant there was something beyond this line. Past the trees, I came to a clearing, which had a dice rolling game. There was seating for four players, and the seats were made of tree stumps. Beyond that, a steep rock face rose up in front of me, while on the right side, the land sloped. It was still green all around, but now I could see the sea. That meant there should be a beach somewhere close. The slope got steeper now and soon I hit the sand. What met my eye surprised me.
I had landed on a narrow strip of beach, where, to my right, the beach ended after some rocks and vegetation. Beyond that, lay a waterfall, and next to it, an arch formed in the rock face. Closer to me were two wooden chairs and a fire which had burnt out through the night. Charred logs of wood and ash remained as residual proof of the event. (I had to make multiple trips to the location before I could complete my entire write-up. Interestingly, one day I landed there, the location was slow to rezz, and since I knew where to look, I could see the flat hilltop straight ahead. All I had to do was walk straight ahead and I was over the hill, at the exact location which I mentioned here earlier). A thing to note here. This beach faces East so the Sun rises in the opposite direction. Hence it is best seen in the warm colours of the rising Sun. When you are there, if it is not sunrise, try changing your setting to experience this.
To my left there a much longer stretch of beach so I set upon exploring that. As soon as I turned, I saw an elevated seating area – you had to climb a short ladder to access that, but it looked comfortable. The strip of beach was narrow here, so the waves continuously lapped your feet. Everything here was made for couples. There was a boat half-sunk in the sand, and a tarp covered sitting area in the sand, beach chairs and a double curved sun lounger made of wooden strips… all some distance form one another. A little after the sun lounger, the beach turned, narrowed more then abruptly ended. Steep rock faces greeted me to my left, while the sea continued to the right. It looked like a good spot to navigate by boat, but I realized this was the sim border, so I would be knocking my head against invisible walls if I tried to access any further.
I returned back to the point where I started, thinking of going back, but the waterfall, the arch behind it and the clump of palm grove I could see far beyond the space in the arch were tempting. I had already seen this place had interesting underwater life so decided to try my luck… and jumped into the water. The underwater vegetation was lively and abundant here too, with similar plants I had seen earlier showing up here too. A giant diamond dance pose ball hung mid air here too. When I got closer, I walked too fast and slipped down the rocky slope. A little distance ahead was a clearing with a bench for two to sit on. Broken pillars and a piece of a roof circled the bench. They had obviously seen better days. A giant swordfish silently swam around here. I presumed if I continued in this path, I would reach the underwater dance location, but decided not to verify my theory and turned around. Even though I tried my best to get out the same way I entered, it proved futile. I eventually decided against any more adventure and flew out and was soon back at the place where I had started. I crossed over to the other side of the hill and elected to walk along the hill, so that I do not miss out any more such hidden places.
