Occupying a Homestead region, Eira is a cosy wintertime island offering a mix of quiet retreat and opportunities for activities and fun. The work of Yoon (Toyono), apparently supported by estate holder AMExperience, it is a delightful location well-suited to its role, and sitting under very appropriate environment settings.
Ruggedly steep, the island is crowned by snow-frosted pine and birch trees which in turn surround a modern cement-and-wood cabin (open to the public) and a large wooden gazebo forming a covered ice skating rink. The main Landing Point (not enforced) sits close by the cabin, making it and the gazebo an obvious first point of exploration.
A path winds away from the cabin and past the gazebo, heading west. As it does so, it passes a close-range snowball fight area to reach wooden decks and steps as they dogleg down to a frozen-over cove on the west side of the island to offer more ice skating (together with the opportunity to pick up some seasonal goodies as a gift from Yoon and – across the bay – to have a little posing fun with a snowman!).
The skating here looks a little more risky as the ice is clearly cracked and there is a warning of thin ice as it hugs the coast around a headland to the south, where a further shallow bay sits. This is backed by a ski / sledding slope running down from the cabin and gazebo (rezzers at the top), with the chance to go skiddling out onto the ice if not careful!
For those preferring a more traditional way of enjoying the ice, a further skating rezzer can be found at the foot of the slope, whilst off to one side on a shelf of snow-coated rock there’s a little place to sit and warm hands before a fire.
Just beyond the trees marking the rezzer for the southern ski slope lays another snowy path winding between the trees. Travelling east to start, it turns more to the south-east to descend down wooden stairs to a deck build out over the water and another chance to go skating.
More skiing / sledding can be had from the top of the east-side slope of the island, where rezzers sit just behind the Landing Point, and angled snow slope dropping away from them, this time with a fence at the bottom to prevent any zooming out into icy waters (unless one steers for the gap in it! Also at the bottom of this slope, people can opt to shovel snow or (again) take to skates out on the ice.
Also reached via a path leading away from the west side of the cabin is a further path. After descending a set of steps, it branches, one arm running on down to where a little dock sits, offering both a skating rezzer and a little rowing boat for sitting and cuddling. The second arm of the path runs around the shoulder of the hill, offering places to sit and spend time.
Skaters setting out from the dock can easily make their way over to the smaller island sitting off to the north-east, which offers a couple of little attractions of its own, reached via steps running up from its north coast. I should also perhaps here note that the other little island sitting to the north-west can also be skated to and explored, but is given over entirely to nature (and so might be a good backdrop for photography).
Those not wishing to explore entirely on foot should also keep an eye out for the tall directional signs. These are actually teleport boards and allow for quick hops around the setting’s major features (or a quick hop back to the Landing Point if you get lost!).
Throughout all of this, Yoon has added plenty of little details to enjoy, together with a subtle soundscape of birdsong and the bubbling, rushing of the local stream and it tumbles over rocks and falls to the sea. For those who would like a Christmas-y soundtrack to go with their explorations, Yoon provides a curated selection of song on the region’s audio stream via Listen.fm.
In all, and as noted, Eira is a delightful, photogenic and enjoyable location!
Slurl Details
- Eira (Karma Isles, rated Moderate)
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 