Fakir/Dwarf ability

Question

In the rules it states:

When taking "Transform and build action" you may skip one terrain or river space

With our last game we had a little discussion that produces 2 questions:

1. If you already have a building next to the area you can "transform and build" upon, but you can also reach that tile from an other tile that fulfills the rule (skip one terrain), can you use the ability to score the points?
2. Can you first use the ability to transform and the turn after that to build upon the tile?

We played did it like this:

1. yes, you can transform, even if it is next to a tile with a building you own.
2. no, because the second time you don't have to transform the tile.

But I'm not certain at all we played it correctly. Certainly the second issue we did wrong I think.

Answer 1

1. No, you cannot use the tunneling or flying ability if you could reach the space without using it.

2. Yes, you can. The only requirements for tunneling is that you do it as part of a terraform/expand action, and the terraform/expand action says that you can just terraform, just expand, or both. So turn 1 you can use the ability to do terraform/expand, choosing just to terraform, then turn 2 you can use the ability to do terraform/expand, choosing just to expand.

Note that this means that you can indeed spend multiple actions in a row terraforming the same spot over and over with tunneling. This can be a great way to get points with dwarves once you have fully upgraded your digging and you have your stronghold.

From the FAQ on boardgamegeek:

Can I use Tunneling or Carpet Flight to a Terrain space that is adjacent to one of my Structures, to get the VP?

No, you can only do so when needed.

Can I use Tunneling or Carpet Flight to transform the same Terrain space several turns in a row, just to earn VP?

Yes, that's allowed.