The road east from Noyo leads into Davenport and this is your first glimpse of just how truly stunning Second Life can look*. Here the road hugs the southern coast of the inland sea and away to the north the water rolls over the famous hand of Omidyar and away towards several small islands marooned in the azure forever. One of these islands is the crash site of a huge porcine spacecraft still smouldering from the impact and if you have time, you really must fly (or sail!) out and take a look at this unique sight.
But back to Davenport and back to the road. To the south hills rise and dip and it was next to a gap in the hills I parked my car and headed of to explore. Beyond the gap my way barred by a cold, deep water channel that ran roughly parallel with the road, but gazelles are good jumpers and I managed to cross and climb the other side without getting too wet.
From here the ground rises and bulges until, guarded by a huge robot lizard, you will find the caldera of the Pompomio volcano – although it looks as though the volcano is at last dormant**
The giant sentinel I had seen on my ascent crouched just beyond the lip of the volcano was named, I discovered, Skulk by its creator, one OoPs Galatea. OoPs was good enough to answer a few quick questions and he informed me that the amazing creature was on a sort of spring clean holiday, banished, if you will, whilst its renovated natural home was being renovated**.
As I stood in the afternoon sun and gazed across the sea to the north, I spied some impossibly floating gardens and I girded myself for a cold, fast flight up to them. I say impossible, but of course this is Second Life and little is impossible. Suffice to say that a quick “Up! Up! And Away!” saw me swoop over the larger of the to land on the gallery, its glass gleaming brightly against the garden’s stone bulk. These were owned, a check informed me, by the Wood Elf alliance, a group dedicated to preserving virtual nature spots. I wandered around for quite some time, waving at the regular airplanes that flew by from Abbotts aerodrome to the west.
Soon though, the sun was dipping to the horizon and decided it would be best to press on. I used a teleport ball at the gallery to get down and found myself at a delightful white marble arbour by the water. As I watched the sun go down I found myself wondering two things – why was there a huge rubber duck in the water here, and where did I park my car.
Yours in Travel. And waders.
HeadBurro Antfarm.
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p.s. Look out for the gorgeous firebirds 
* Providing you have the hardware, of course. You need a good graphics card to really make the most of this world, but even on my weakling of a laptop I am treated to many, many beautiful views.
** The volcano seems to be dead now, but it certainly did used to erupt. Maybe it is just storing up its energy and will take us be surprise any day.
Tags: Backpacking Burro, Davenport, HBA, HeadBurro Antfarm, Road Trip, Second Life, SL
