Category: Exploring Second Life

Following a suggestion from Suzie Anderton, I jumped back to Vivian Ewing’s Where Our Journey Begins, which I last visited back towards the start of the year to catch its 2022 wintertime dressing once more.

Back in February, the setting was blooming into an early spring and offered an engaging mix of places to explore among the trees and flowers as they threw a rich palette of colour across the region. Now, with the closing of the year, the setting is very much folded in a blanket of winter snow and seasonal elements in readiness for the coming holidays and celebrations.

Visits commence at the main landing point in the south-east corner of the region, the land stretching away to the north-west, a large ribbon lake crossing it diagonally from south-west to north-east. The latter is shouldered at its northern extremes by a curtain of rock to one side, similar to the curtain cliffs backing the landing point and possibly part of the same upward thrust of rock, and on the other by a plateau crowned but winter cabins.

From the landing point beneath the great iron gazebo in which it sits, visitors have a choice of exploration routes by which to discover the rest of the setting. Turn right a short walk from the gazebo, and the path leads to snowy box hedgerows enclosing an small terrace. A path from here runs down to the water’s edge to one side of the region, whilst a second points north, passing a corral where horses are held and a rezzer is available should you wish to explore the region on horseback, before the path branches once more.

Take the left arm of the fork, and the way is clear to wander along the southerly shore of the lake and even reach its icy surface. Places to sit and rest can be found along this route, ranging from a little campsite through water’s edge gazebo warmed by a log fire to a cosy little hut standing within sight of a high bridge spanning the lake – of which more anon.

Meanwhile, the right arm of the fork quickly crosses a covered bridge spanning the banks of a little stream – also frozen – to reach a fenced trail which also skirts the lake as it runs up and around the north-east head of the waters.  From here, it runs onwards and westwards, passing over steps and between gates to reach the local (and festive!) village snuggled under the aforementioned plateau. Rides and seasonal kiosks have been set out on the village square, the lights of the houses glowing brightly beyond before the sheer face of the rocky highlands intervene between village and hilltop cabins.

The latter are reached via a further route of exploration leading away from the landing point. It sits beyond the snow-frosted gates at the end of the path leading outwards from the landing point gazebo, and a snow-dusted path meanders upwards through hoar-frosted trees to where an unexpected sight awaits: Santa’s cabin, complete with the jolly old man sitting outside, his elves keeping things moving. Flagstones arc their way around the cabin to lead to the bridge mentioned above and, across it, a single-track road providing access to the cabins.

Fully furnished and separated from the rest of the region as they are, these cabin offer their own setting and opportunities for photography both indoors and out.

This latter point is what makes this iteration of Where Our Journey Begins; while the region comes together as a single setting, it is laid out in such a way as to offer multiple little vignettes offering their own opportunities for enjoyment and photography, all rich in detail and with enough space between them so as visitors needn’t feel as if they are tripping over one another as the explore.

As with previous iterations of Where Our Journey Begins, Snowtide – as this version has been called – is a genuine delight to visit. My thanks to Suzie again for the pointer.

SLurl Details

• Where Our Journey Begins (Eternal Hope, rated Moderate)

Exploring Second life – particularly the Mainland continents – can be thirsty work. Fortunately there are often spots along the way that people have provided for the enjoyment of refreshments and a little sit-down.

Coffee is often the beverage of choice (although with the northern hemisphere winter and the holiday season approaching, hot chocolate is liable to start rivalling it as an option!), and that’s just fine with me, as I’m a genuine coffeeholic / coffee snob in the physical world :).

Take Heterocera as an example. Like all of the mainland continents it has plenty to see, particularly along its road and rail network – although the former is generally the easier way to spot public places awaiting visitors. I’m not going to try to offer an extensive review of all the cafés across the continent in this piece, instead, I’ll cover a trio I’ve enjoyed dropping into on occasion.

The first comes on the north side of the continent and, given its latitude and the time of year, is appropriately dressed for winter. Snuggled against the southern side of Route 3’s north-eastern curve, Le’eaf and Tinsel is reached via a short climb up a set of stone steps from the side of the highway.

Snow crunches softly under your feet as you wander the white dusted trails. Among the trees and gently falling snow you will find a winter wonderland and of course… Coffee. Le’eaf&Bean Coffee truck is onsite for your caffeine and cocoa fix.

– Le’eaf and Tinsel About Land

The work of T Lefevre (Teagan Lefevre), this 2,800 sq metre parcel sits under her Le’eaf portfolio of parcel and regions designs. Like her other work, the parcel forms a part of the Mainland Preservation Society & The Nature Collective – with Teagan working with Emm Vintner (Emmalee Evergarden) – and there will be more on this in a moment.

Small the parcel might be, it nevertheless offers an engaging visit, the path from the step meandering to the left between rocks, trees and shrubs to reach a little wooden bridge. Following the path offers hints of more to be found beyond the hedges: the walls and roof of a building and the top of a van. However, as the shrubs extend along the side of the path all the way to the bridge, visitors need to make a right turn at the top of the steps and follow the right arm of the path.

This also meanders somewhat, but leads to where a skating rink sits beyond a picket fence to the right (touch the sign alongside the rink for skates), and to the left is a fire pit warming outdoor seating. The building – a converted barn – and the van sit on the south side of the parcel; the former is home to a little bakery, the latter the Le’eaf & Bean coffee wagon; both lie alongside a winding boardwalk and have further outdoor seating snuggled between them.

The wooden bridge within the parcel spans a narrow stream, the path beyond passing through a set of high gates and into the next parcel and the second of the café destinations I want to talk about – the Winter Wonders of Comelia Street and the Toe Beans Cat Café and Rescue.

Both are the work of Emm Vintner as a part of her Nature Collective brand, with the former offering an almost winter-streets-of-New-York-meets-Dickens’-Victorian-England vibe. The cobbled street is lined to one side by tall apartment buildings and a cosy bookshop. With more snow falling from above, the north side of the street offers winter seasonal elements that help with the more timeless feel to the parcel – an outdoor hot chocolate stand, a snowman, and tall street lamps that might be a gaslight, together with a little place selling fir trees for the holiday season – complete with a modern machine for netting them to allow easier transport.

The far end of the street from the gate to Le’eaf and Tinsel provides access to the café, assuming you’re following my footsteps through he parcels.

As its name suggests, the Toe Beans Cat Café and Rescue is a place for both humans and cats – and particularly the latter! Kitties of all ages await visitors, with some also helping themselves to the café’s offerings! A novel aspect of the café is the ability to help toward local tier by “adopting” a cat from the board just inside the door to the left. L$25 will bring you a copy of one of the offers cats (just right-click and PAY the photo of the cat you desire).

The square outside the café is warmed on one side by a propane heater for those who would like to  sit outdoors, and one of the tables includes a game of draughts which might be enjoyed while munching on the roasted chestnuts available from the little vendor cart in one corner of the yard. Or visitors can sit on the bench next to the cart, which is also warmed by another of the propane heaters.

The final destination for this piece lies on the south-western side of Heterocera and is a place – again possibly befitting the more southerly latitude – which is snow-free for those looking for somewhere warmer to visit. It also, again if you’re following in my footsteps, continues the kitty theme found at the Toe Beans Cat Café in that there is a certain moggy presence to be found here.

The work of Hitsu Ruby, the Hi-Café sits alongside the Atoll Road and sits within a cosy 1536 sq m parcel. The café itself sits adjacent to the cobbles of the Atoll Road, a tall brick-built building watched over by the aforementioned moggies and with an inviting, modern décor.

Caught in the shades of Autumn, the setting offers the café, with a span of a canal behind it cutting through the parcel to separate the café from Hitsu’s modest store, where she sells prefab buildings. Both the store and the café are also Hitsu’s own designs, but they appear to be custom builds rather than units she sells.  Those interested in her commercial builds can obtain demos through the store, or take a peek at the neighbouring parcel to the west, and her Store #11 on display.

The canal itself is bordered on either side by paved footpaths complete with wildling flower beds, places to sit (allowing for the cats laying claim to portions of them!), the two halves of the parcel spanned by a pair of bridges. The rest of the parcel is peppered with little details – the bus stop (/landing point) alongside the road, the little second-hand bookstall / newspaper stand, a Parisienne-style kiosk, a fountain – all of which add character to the setting.

Those wishing to rez props for photography can do so by joining the local Group, and there is a 30-minutes return time for objects that are rezzed; however, if you avail yourself to the opportunity, do be sure to pick up your items hen done, so that other can rez without having to wait.

All three locations are equally attractive, offering their own points of attraction. They are not the only such places to be found in Heterocera or SL as a whole, but I offer them here as a small selection, and may well do more pieces like this one in the future.

SLurl Details

• Le’eaf and Tinsel (Muslin, rated Moderate)
• Winter Wonders of Comelia Street and the Toe Beans Cat Café and Rescue (Muslin, rated Moderate)
• Hi-Café (Itame, rated Moderate)

Emm Vintner  (Emmalee Evergarden) has opened a new parcel under her Nature Collective group. Entitled Mullein Woods, it directly adjoin her What The Buzz  setting, which I originally wrote about in Making a beeline for WTB in Second Life. Together they offer a double-header of settings.

Still located in Heterocera, both regions offer a pleasant visit. What The Buzz retains its interactive nature as a bee preserve, albeit on a smaller scale to the setting I explored in May of 2022, offering the opportunity to learn about bees and their importance to the ecosystem.  It sit directly to the west of Mullein Forest, seamlessly joining with it thanks to the shared narrow-gauge railway.

Discover the quiet wild of Mullein Woods. Get lost among the trees and explore nature as it was meant to be – natural, alive and full of wonder and beauty. Explore by foot or by train – on the path or off the beaten path. By the Nature Collective!

Mullein Woods About Land

Located alongside Route 3.5, Mullein Woods offers a gentle spot of some 6,600 square metres to explore, the aforementioned narrow-gauge railway circling it and running between it and What the Buzz, and serving the two stations that lie along it – the first for the woods themselves, the second for What the Buzz.

The Mullein Wood station offers an introduction to the location and to the Great Little Railways of Second Life  -some of which I’ve also covered in these pages (see here and here).

The setting itself is easy to explore, being small enough to cover easily on foot,  with numerous opportunities for photography. However, rather than ramble on about it here – I’ll leave it to you to find out via a visit to the Woods and What the Buzz! – Just keep an eye out for the local critters and creatures! 🙂 .

 

SLurl Details

Mullein is rated Moderate

• Mullien Woods
• What the Buzz

LeLoo (LeLooUlf) has redressed her LeLoo’s World for the northern hemisphere’s winter season with an mix of settings, one of which appears to be open to the public and the second, smaller section still under construction.

Welcome to The Northern Trek! Grab our free snowshoes for your trek across this frozen landscape. Enjoy the animal viewing spots. Have fun getting in the winter mood! This is a PG event, all are welcome.

– LeLoo’s  World, About Land description

The major portion of the setting is home to this opportunity for trekking a snowy landscape and seeing the mix of animals, mammals and waterfowl from both the Arctic and Antarctic it offers. The snowshoes mentioned in the About Land introduction can be found in the sack sitting a short distance from the landing point and at the top of the slopes leading down from the broad ledge on which it sits. This landing point is located mid-way half-way up the cliffs running as a curtain running half-way along the southern edge of the parcel to divide it from the rest of the region, before falling away to a  narrow finger of water.

One of these slopes, running down and westwards, leads to an ice-covered water channel spanned by a wooden bridge. Beyond this channel the cliffs rise once more to continue their westward march, the gap between them suggesting the curtains have been improperly closed.

These cliffs are themselves are a curious mix of peaks, tables and ledges. The most extensive of the latter has at one end two of the rocky tables, swept by wind and snow, and at its far end is overshadowed by another of these semi-round tables. Not all of these tables are easily accessible as they jut from the various cliffs, nevertheless they have become the homes for caravans and other structures, offering their own most unusual elements to the setting. Others are more easily reached via slopes and steps – although getting down from them to the southern lowlands can be a challenge as well – although the snowshoes should help get down snowy hummocks.

It is across the north-facing lowlands and the semi-ice covered bay which forms a good part of the setting in which the majority – but not all – of the wildlife are to be found. These include caribou/reindeer; elk/wapiti; polar bears from the Arctic; penguins from the Antarctic, and fur seals. They share the lowlands with huskies and the waters with orca. Caribou might also be found on the uplands, together with Arctic foxes, rabbit, owls – and a further family of polar bears.

The southern cliffs are not the only uplands in the parcel: the western end is dominated by a tall, snowy mesa of rock, flat-topped and with a further finger of water partially separating it from the rest of the highlands. It is at the head of this channel that explorers can find the path rising to the top of the mesa and the old, broken rotunda and snow-crowned folly occupying it as they overlook the storm-torn wooden windmill at its base.

The base of this path runs around the foot of the mesa to pass between it and the open waters beyond and under fir trees to reach the mesa’s northern side and the ruined windmill; although if explorers prefer, they can follow the rougher ground alongside the narrow finger of water between mesa and cliffs to reach the windmill and the emergency shelter close-by – one of several places in the setting where visitors can sit. The largest of these sits towards the east side of parcel and takes the form of a working bunker partially covered by snow to provide a degree of insulation. It is not the cosiest of places, but it does provide shelter.

The remaining portion of the parcel – its western extent – is also separated from the rest by another curtain of cliffs pointing north that were, at the time of my visit impassable. Beyond them, the setting – as noted above – appears to be under construction and offers the look of a developing winter market built around a frozen pond. As this did not appear open to the public, I did not  pry further – but I look forward to seeing what emerges when ready.

In the meantime, the setting is – as always with LeLoo’s work, highly photogenic – although dressing to suit the environment is recommended!

My thanks to Shawn Shakespeare for the pointer.

SLurl Details

• The Northern Trek at LeLoo’s World (Friends, rated Moderate)

November has rolled around once more, and in the northern hemisphere, winter is wrapping its arms slowly around us, prompting thoughts to turn towards thoughts of white Chirstmases, snowy holidays, skating, jingling bells, a chubby chappie with a bushy white beard (as he has become, courtesy of Haddon Sundblom), and more.

All of these “traditions” tend to come to the fore in Second Life as the end of the year rolls rapidly closer, with regions across the grid being re-dressed with snow and decorated trees to offer the opportunity for winter walks and /or romance, winter fun and photography. These regions take many forms, so much so that we are often spoiled for choice in terms of where to visit, what to see and do, so I’m getting this one in early, after taking the recommendation of my “sim sleuth”, Shawn Shakespeare.

Monverdun is a Homestead region designed by yoyo Collas with the support of AmyDenise which offers, as the About Land description notes, a variety of winter / seasonal offerings liable to suit anyone, no matter what their wintertime preferences. And for me, that description is not wrong, as I’ll get too shortly.

Whilst describing itself as a “city”, the setting is really far more rural than that. Cut through from east to west by a broad river bordered on one side by a major road which does suggest it is a major artery leading to / from a major conurbation, and beyond which lie high snowy peaks suggesting this is a place sitting within a broad (and possibly formerly glacial) valley.

Between the river and road and the mountain slopes, the landscape is largely wooded, the southern side of the setting dominated by a large country-style house. Across the frozen waters of the river are two former boathouses, now converted into riverside cabins with plenty of cosy warmth within them. Sitting between the two cabins is a large skating rink, blazing braziers and a hot chocolate kiosk offering the chance to warm both hands and insides for those who find the air and setting a little cold.

The rink – which offers the visitors the chance to skate – and cabins have attracted the attention of a string (or stud) or horses, the line of which passes behind them to stretch across the river and back through the woods near the country house. Okay, so maybe the rink and cabins aren’t the attraction for the horses; they are more likely moving to find pastures that are possibly easier to reach through the snow to be found on the north side of the region. However, their passage past the cabin and rink offers an additional sense of magic to both rink and cabins.

However, these horses, making their way over the frozen water, form a rounded pointer back towards the large country house on the south side of the region suggesting they may have come from it – a suggestion possibly supported by the fact the house has stables along one wing. And it is this country house that actually attracted me to the region – although the reason for this is slightly convoluted and has little to do with Second Life.

This is because – a fair while ago now – the Christmas period for me was a time spent away from home at a country house hotel that offered a complete “non-Christmas, Christmas” – good company among friends, warm fires, wonderful meals, the opportunity to go to the local parish church services for those who wished, and most of all (as selfish as it might sound) the chance to just escape the rest of the world for a few days.

Whilst that country house did not feature a Christmas market sitting before its main entrance, nor does it sit alongside a major road, there is something about the looks and styling of the house within Monverdun which carried me back to those days of Christmas getaways. For others, the region’s setting might offer different attractions and memories.

For example, with the hints of the 1940s in some of the traffic together the snow and lights, it’s not too hard to imagine Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey rushing along one side of the road, running back to town and home to face his future in It’s A Wonderful Life; while the hansom cab outside the gates leading to the country house offer a suggestion of Victorian Christmases (something not entirely unconnected to Capra’s 1946 film mentioned above).

Richly photogenic and engaging Monverdun makes for a visit that will likely sit one’s imagination, offering much of the seasonal spirit without being overbearing.

SLurl Details

• Snowy Monverdun (Monverdun, rated Moderate)