Destination Paradise V

Back to the Destination Paradise story, final episode. If you are lost, then catch up with the former episodes of Destination Paradise here:  One, Two, Three and Four. Ok, so after a few Tequilas in the bar, we went out to explore the island. See the sights or rather - see if there were any sights.

The blue lagoon

Of course there were. After just short walk through palms, flowers and sand we discovered this little blue lagoon. Sooo beautiful. We simply had to sit still for a few minutes and just be in it. Birds singing, insects humming, waves splashing; There was also a distant hum from a small fishing boat. So relaxing...

The sleepyhead in total relaxation

I started to feel sleepy. Maybe it was the Tequila. Maybe it was the long sail, I dunno. Sailing is known to have that effect on people. Whatever it was, that floating thing out there looked really inviting. No sharks around? Let's go...

No sharks but lotsa fish

Sometimes I get emails from sailors in other virtual worlds. They usually go: What's the surroundings made of? Are they just pretty pictures? The answer is absolutely not. Here's an underwater shot showing the water isn't just blue paint on glass. Seeweed and fish can be found many places in well made locations. There are entire sims dedicated to scuba diving, but that's another story.

Another sweet and magical spot

Behind the blue lagoon there was a cliff; It was almost covered with palms. We walked around for a few minutes till we found a hidden path into the palms. It lead us up to a plateau with the most spectacular view over the ocean. Two chairs were there, and they almost begged us to stay and see the sunset... 

Sunset from the plateau

So we did. The sound of ocean waves splashing on the shore was still present, but up here soundscape were dominated by birds and crickets. We really didn't have to say anything. Just a look and we both knew, this was one of those secret magical spots. Our spot.

Catching the last sun rays

Eventually we climbed down; walked the other way around the island, and there we found another nice spot; We sat down to catch the last sunrays and watch the seagulls catch their dinner. The view over the virtual ocean can be so amazing it's mind boggling; Or is it "buggling", when it is a virtual world inside a computer? Never mind. I works like total zen... Funny how so many people have stressfull moments at the computer... Virtual sailing is the opposite. 

Breaking up

Time to go home, or back to RL even. Here's the sunset that greeted us, when we arrived at the pier. Somehow we both knew that neither of us wanted to make the move. This was when I said something like "I never wanna leave". Marin mumbled something about a virtual paradise, and that's why I called these posts Destination Paradise.

Bikini sailing in the sunset

But first, we needed to sail back home to Tradewinds in my trusty Flying Fizz; Sails up, gennaker too and woohooo up and away. Needless to say we also had a great cruise back home. Thanx Marin... It was a wonderful sailing experience, and it was also an interesting experiment into cruising and exploring.

Sometimes it is a little worrying how much this world gets to you. It really does. If u go with the flow, it's an amazing and mysterious world. There are so many beautiful places to see, so many fun things to do and sometimes there's a surprise, because not everything is what it appears to be. SL Sailing is definately more than racing. It is possible to sail for hours and continuously see new and beautiful places.

(Continued from Destination Paradise IV)