February 26, 2009 Thursday

This evening I have decided to spend at least part of the evening in Etopia (Island). I can't remember where I first heard of it. Perhaps my memory will be jogged during my exploration; perhaps I've been here briefly before. But I have had it on my list of things to do with the notation, "bike ride".

I used the Search to look under "Etopia" (using the All category) and selected the teleport that has landed me in front of a little bamboo bike shop. I'm going to keep things on Midday for the time being. Etopia is all about sustainable and green living, so there is a big poster explaining about bamboo as a material. Then there is an SL bamboo bike that can be bough for zero Lindens. I see the bike trail just beyond.

The bike trail is slightly confusing to follow, as it is not a trail marked on the ground. Rather you keep going from one sign that says "Bike Trail" to the next. Which is a good idea, except they are sometimes far apart, too far apart to see the next one, as well as being the same format as signs for other things. So I was doing a lot of guessing until I realized the main idea was to bike around the very outside of the island (that is, on the coast by the water) and just get a general look see at the lay of the island (had to drive on the train track for a bit, and later signs were closer together for an inner island way, crossed a few bridges). There were a lot of things I saw I will go back and look at in depth. I heard streaming media explaining about the perils of human consumption and I heard a llama and whales singing. I stopped from time to time to look at a distance at houses as well as the wind and water power projects. There is a huge waterfall with a wheel; and several turbine wind mills -- awesome.

When the bike trail ended, I chose another landmark teleport from Search that looked central to the Island so I could board the (eco-friendly) train -- "Train Station", so I could take a look at the Island that way. The train "clang" was a welcoming call. When I got on and selected "sit here", I received a RIDE option. Also it put me immediately into mouselook and I heard the train engine hum. The windmills were in sight again. I can hear ducks. We went up the mountain top to a smaller waterfall, the sound rushing furiously, and across a mountain bridge. I could see a sign for a hiking trail, although I don't think I'll do that one. There were several smaller stations the train stopped at from time to time. I saw a swan swimming. I saw the whale as well as the underwater power station (?). I don't know what it was, but it looked cool. There was one spot where trees didn't rez fast enough, but for the most part the train tour was awesome.

I went to a stream and road a simple boat a short distance to the large waterfall. It was not really a tour. I got off at a dock there and went up a trail which took me to some area with shops and whatnot. I felt a little lost so I took the teleport back to the central area in order to ride the Gondola.

The Gondola had a "ticket" stand, although it was free. This is an air Gondola. It was cool, but not really any better than the train ride. It was actually better to pan the camera around without Mouselook. At the top of the mountain with the small waterfall was call Eagle Station. I didn't realize I had to get off there to switch to another Gondola down another way, so I rode twice up. While I was waiting for the second Gondola at the Eagle Station, I walked up some stone steps and I explored around what was probably the hike trail. I saw a fire circle at the tippy top of the mountain, and an eagle almost flying in my face. I saw a boarded up old mine, although it wasn't something you could go down into (I don't think).

I do remember that Etopia had one of their stores in the February (Valentine's) Kiss Gridhunt.

I think that is the end of my adventures here in Etopia (for now). But for anyone truly interested in sustainability, or just a beautiful, educational place -- there are so many things here, buildings, gardens, projects, etc.