A Nordic adventure

Many  – if not all – of the roads around Second Norway are mesh, and make driving relatively smooth for the most part, and sim boundaries are clearly signposted and require only a drop in speed to negotiate safely. The Neuspa handled things very well, and I particularly liked running it along the Atlantic road, over the bridges and up into Fjell, in the north-east of Second Norway, where I also gave the 43S GT a run.

All of the roads are open to public traffic, but do keep in mind that not all the land around them is – much of it is given over to private residences, many with driveways coming off the main roads; so please respect people’s privacy when exploring (I confess to turning off the main road and hurtling up around a hill climb to find myself in someone’s front yard 😦 ).

For those who do like to race, Second Norway features a sky-built racing track owned and operated by Kejwla Anwyl and LittleUnicorn Meredith. This is a huge multi-level structure and offers a terrific venue for car and bike racing while keeping things within the boundaries of a single region – although I did encounter some issues on the upper levels while riding my Neuspa, so some care is required.

As well as the roads, the regions in Second Norway are all interconnected via waterways, allowing visitors to explore them by boat. There are several docks and marinas scattered across the regions where boats can be rezzed (Autoreturn is active across the regions to prevent them becoming cluttered with visitors’ forgotten boats and cars), and a link to Blake Sea via Snug Harbour ensures they can be reached from open water.

The waterways themselves are often high-sided and narrow, so in some areas it’s best to travel under engine power rather than wind power. Bridges across the waterways present little in the way of navigation problems, as most are of the draw bridge variety, and proximity-activated, swinging open as you approach and closing again once you’ve passed. However, a couple are still manually operated (or didn’t sense my approach) and require a click to open. Channels are clearly marked with buoys and signs to keep you away from shallows, and the marinas offer places to “tie-up alongside”.

For me, sailing through Second Norway was the best way to see it – most of the houses have water access and private piers, so you do get to see a lot when pottering through on the water. For those living here, of course, access to Blake Sea means they have extensive opportunities for boating, including trips to Corsica, Nautilus and elsewhere.

It is this additional space which makes Second Norway attractive to aviation enthusiasts. There are a couple of small airstrips available for use, as well as helicopter pads among the private residences, and a new international airport will shortly be opening in the south-west corner of Second Norway which may attract even more visitors.

As a community, Second Norway has a lot of offer those fortunate enough to live there. As a destination to visit, it provides a pleasing and engaging mixture of things to see and do. There are one or two eclectic elements to be found – the huge pirate ship sitting in one of the bays wasn’t something I expected to come across – but overall the theme is very Nordic, with even Kejwlaa and LittleUnicorn re-working their regions (which pre-dated the arrival of Second Norway into the area) from a more tropical look and feel to match the rest of the regions.

Second Norway is supported by a website, which provides news and articles on the goings-on within the regions, and which includes a good dose of humour as well; I hope Ey in particular has recovered from his, um, “scrape” with the runway at Antilaghi Regional Airport! The website is presented in both Norwegian and English and does make for a pleasant read, providing a range of hints on places which are well worth a visit.

Overall, I enjoyed my days exploring Second Norway. The care with which the regions have been developed and are curated makes them a great place to visit, while the historical elements found within them give added depth to any tour. For SL photographers there’s a lot on offer here, and Second Norway naturally lends itself to a wide range of windlight settings which can be used to great effect to produce some amazing images (would I had the talent to do the place justice).

Related Links

• Second Norway main teleport, Norge SLurl (Rated Moderate)
  • The stave church SLurl
  • Quayside, Miklagard SLurl
  • Lindesnes Fyr lighthouse replica SLurl
  • Second Norway website
• SL Destinations in this blog