In July, I visited The Boathouse Café, a charming setting designed by Sorcha Tyles under her Dutch Pavilion banner (see: More coffee and photos in Second Life). Well, Sorcha has been busy!
Paging through the Destination Guide I came across an entry for Outpost Bay, sitting within the region hosting The Boathouse, and which at the time of my last visit has been a private space for Sorcha. So, intrigued, I had to pop over and have a look.
Listen to the gentle sound of waves and birds as you take a peaceful stroll down to the beach and relax by the vintage changing huts. When you’re ready, wander into the cosy Concept Store to pick up a fresh coffee, breakfast, and something good to read. Settle in at a table on the deck to enjoy the morning sea breeze, or head over to the lighthouse and take a boat out on the water. Outpost Bay is a warm, rustic place made for slowing down, unwinding, and living in the moment.
– Outpost Bay Destination Guide Entry
One of the things I really appreciate with Sorcha’s designs is how she can take a relatively small space and turn it into something that is inviting and encouraging of visits.
The Boathouse Café, for example sits on 3120 sq metres; Outpost Bay is barely bigger, sitting on a 3136 sq metre parcel. Yet both are visually impressive and photogenic, carrying plenty of detail without either parcel ever feeling overcrowded.
Given the two locations are within the same themed region (and sitting just across a water channel from one another), they share something of a similar look, both in terms of the flora and the buildings present on them.
This is not a critique: by using the same flora and similar architecture, Sorcha creates a sense of continuity flowing between the two islands – and with the rest of the estate. It also suggests that both islands were developed as little places of commerce around the same time, the buildings sharing ta wooden construction style as they were built around the same time and shared the same readily-available materials in the form of the trees growing on them.
With Outpost Bay, the main building was once a warehouse-come-seafood market, the original signage conjuring images of fishing boats coming alongside and their catch going from boat through cleaning to sale.
Now, however, the building serves as a café-come-store (do note that the doors are phantom, rather than opening, so just walk through them). It’s a little tired inside, to be sure – perhaps a statement to its frequent use – but there is more seating outside on a wooden deck for those who prefer.
The one exception to the dominance of wooden buildings in both settings is the tall white tower of Outpost Bay’s lighthouse. This looks out over a rocky corner of the island which might cause boats passing along the channel between it and the next island over.
With the lighthouse and café located on the east side of the island, the rest is relatively open as a wild garden which partially surrounds the cafe’s deck before giving way to a cosy beach alongside a short, rocky length of coastline.
The sands of the beach is patrolled by godwits and watched over by ibis whilst offering humans a place to relax and enjoy the summer Sun.
There is a main path wandering through the setting, and it does so in a manner intended to reveal rather than simply lead, winding out from the cafe’s deck it gently reaches out to the lighthouse and the beach, allowing people to gently explore and discover many of the little touches Sorcha has placed around the setting.
In all – and as I noted with The Boathouse Café – Outpost Bay is an utterly delightful setting with a lot to offer for those seeking to relax and those wishing to take photos. Individually or taken together, these are locations well worth visiting.
Slurl Details
- Outpost Bay (Moonlight Bloom, rated Moderate)
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 