Category: Exploring Second Life

Tucked away on a finger of land extending out into the sea on the north-west coast of Nautilus, is the idyllic retreat of [REN], designed and held by Noa (Noa Cloud). Occupying a touch under 13,000 square metres on a Full Mainland region, it is another example of how less can be more when creating a public environment, as well as presenting a fusion of ideas to offer a captivating setting for people to visit.

According to the teleport board at the landing point, the setting has four areas to which visitors can be transported; however, three are within easy walking distance of one another, meaning it is really only the gallery space which requires a teleport assist in order to be reached. Plus, there is a little secret within the location awaiting discovery.

 

The teleport station sits between two of the ground-level locations: the Japanese Garden and the Salon Garden. The former is the largest element of the build, sitting above the Salon Garden and connected to it by a stone stairway descending from the landing point. Loosely split into two parts, the Japanese Garden offers loosely paved paths flowing around a summer house largely furnished with western sensibilities but offering a Japanese tearoom. Across the path from this sits a massage table / bench fronts a waterfall – the first of several in the gardens.

A wisteria draped arch alongside the falls provides access to an “inner” garden bounded to one side by more waterfalls. Rich with flower in bloom, pools of water and a smaller summer house set ready for a music recital, this “inner” garden is rich in the sound of bird song. It is a place where one can come to relax and unwind. The paths winding through this garden lead the way to where a second, smaller Zen garden and gravel path run down one side of the little summer house and under the shade of trees, leading the way back to the main house.

As well as offering walks around the garden, one of the paths alongside the main house points the way to where a grassy slope drops down to a broad ledge overlooking a small beach, a set of steps completing the way down to the sands.  The beach curves around the coastline of the setting, skirting the cliffs and passing by a boardwalk leading out over the water to where a pavilion sits surrounded by the waves, awaiting couples who might enjoy a dance.

Two further set of stone steps climb back up from the beach. The first rises to face the front of the salon itself, the two separated by a wide paved path. Outdoor seating provides light refreshment, whilst inside the salon is the opportunity for more music and a touch of afternoon tea or an aperitif, depending on your preference.

Sitting behind the salon is a garden of roses and tulips where deer and a hare roam (or float!) whilst an owl watches over an outdoor reading nook. Steps alongside the nook lead up to the Japanese garden, while a second set of steps rise from an archway to a further small garden, complete with waterfalls of its own, providing an additional quiet retreat.

Throughout all of this there are numerous places to sit and pass the time, and – as if it needs stating – lots of opportunities for photography. There is also, should you find it, the opportunity for a romantic (and literally candle-lit) dinner tucked out-of-sight from the rest of the world. Finding your way too it is not hard – but I’m saying no more about it her; the clue is in the setting’s About Land description. After that, you just need to look behind the curtain – so to speak.

The gallery mentioned above is home to Noa’s own Second Life photography, which is itself engaging and representative of the natural look of Second Life locations. Also as noted earlier, it requires teleporting to reach it – just accept the location’s Experience when touching any board for the first time (subsequent teleports within the setting will be automatic).

Beautifully presented and a joy to visit, [REN] is finished with a subtle sounds cape and presents both restful and engaging to the eye. My thanks to Shawn Shakespeare for the pointer!

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• [REN] (Strutter rated Moderate)

You won’t find Fitzwilliam Darcy waiting to host you at Pemberley, the Full region in Second Life … Nor, to be honest, will you find any grand manor house ready to captivate your gaze from afar, or signs of the gardens and English countryside across which  Elizabeth Bennet first caught sight of the house.

– This blog, December 2021

These are the words I used to open my last article concerning Pemberley, the private Full region held by Jude Mortensen, NataliaLinn and Aria Christen, and which borrows its name from Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice, when I visited it in late 2021.

Well, times have changed, and Pemberley recently re-opened to the public with a new look for the summer of 2023 – and I should here offer apologies to Aria, Jude and NataliaLinn for being unable to take up their invitation to visit ahead of said re-opening; time hasn’t been on my side for extensive SL explorations of late.

True, there is still no grand house nor formal gardens per se, to be found within the new design, which has been visualised by Aria, and elements might appear a little wilder in places than one might expect to find in Regency Hertfordshire; however, these matters are of trifling import. What is presented is a setting intended to encompass the romance and visual richness of Austin’s novel, and I have little doubt she or her leading character would feel at home walking the paths and gardens here.

A visit starts towards the south of the region, the landing point sitting within a folly so typical of Regency gardens, lifted above the surrounding landscape by the helpful shoulder of a hill. From here, the path gently descends into the gardens below, passing between two ranks of trees, their boughs raised up over the path like an honour guard holding aloft their swords, an ancient and bent tree at their head standing like some grizzled Sergeant-Major holding the rank to its discipline.

Descending by way of steps laid into the ground using logs cuts to size, the path slopes down to where a raise stone terrace sits atop four paved ramps, itself crowned by an octagonal fountain. This perhaps offers the first hint that the setting is designed to capture the romance embodied in Austin’s Pride and Prejudice, rather than represent it: the date carved into the door lintels sitting below the main platform suggest it may have been constructed during the Victorian era.

With three further ways down from the fountain, visitors have a choice or routes for onwards exploration. It doesn’t matter which is taken as they all offer a sense of romance and mystique as they are followed. To the east, for example, the ramp drops down to where the path immediately splits, one arm pointing north to were the outlines of a high wall might be seen through the foliage, the other pointing due east to pass through an archway formed by the split, twisted trunk of another ancient tree, and thence through a vine and clematis draped hall hinting at something waiting beyond.

That “something” is in fact the remains of a once magnificent structure dating well back prior to the Regency period. The great arches set into the remaining walls at ground level suggests this may have once been an abbey of some kind, the stonework within the arches looking as though it may once have supported stained glass.

Together with the flagstones still visible despite nature’s attempts down the centuries to reclaim the ground, the walls enclose a space with a sense of enchantment about it, dominated by a single massive wall to one hinting at its former glory. Now, wisteria weep their blossom and teardrop chandeliers around the edges of this cloister-like setting, the flagstones lying across it suggesting they are awaiting the arrival of guests for an open-air summer ball.

The other arm of the path runs past a gardener’s cart and onwards up to a gate on the wall, providing access to a summer house set within its own courtyard. Here again is the richness of dichotomy found within Pemberley. On the one hand, it’s not hard to imagine the likes of Ms. Bennet and Mr. Darcy strolling through the garden to come to this grand summer house so they might sit in genteel conversation – or which Elizabeth and her sisters might consider it a marvellous place to spend an afternoon. However, sitting within the courtyard are thoroughly modern bicycles, whilst inside is a very modern coffee house / café in terms of the overall furnishings and much of the beverage selection!

The remaining paths similarly lead to or past various locations to be found within the gardens. These include an alternate path up to the summer house, further follies and remnants of structures that might be related to the former abbey (or they might not be!), bridges which reach back and forth over the local stream and in one corner, a cosy little house where it is possible to imagine the Bennet family sitting down to a meal. The beauty here is that, whichever path you take, you will eventually find the means via intersections, bridges and steps, to find your way completely around the setting and perhaps even to the little rowing boat and its own sense of romance.

Sitting under its own environment settings – although I admit I did opt to haul the Sun a little higher into the sky for the photos herein – Pemberley is highly photogenic and makes for a rich and rewarding visit. Do make sure to have your local sounds on for the fullest experience, and if so minded, share your images in the Pemberley Flickr group (link in the region’s description.

My thanks again to NataliaLinn, Aria and Jude for their invitation, and to Shawn Shakespeare for the reminder that I really should get my rear end over to the region and explore!

SLurl Details

• Pemberley (rated Moderate)

Note: all images in this article taken using my personal EEP settings rather than the region defaults.

Ethereal City is an estate of (at the time of writing!) four regions in Second Life, comprising (from north to south-east as one looks at the map) two Full private regions leveraging the Land Capacity bonus (Ethereal City Noir and Ethereal City), a Full region (Ethereal City Legacy) and a Homestead (Ethereal City Beauty). The entire estate is held by Noon Jaxxon, who is also – along with Dandy Warhlol (terry Fotherington) – is principally responsible for the overall design and construction of the estate.

It was an invitation from Noon (received together with suggestions from several others (including MorganaCarter and Shawn Shakespeare, both of whom fired over LMs to me) to drop in and wandering through Ethereal City Noir, which I gather is the latest addition to the estate. However, such is the nature of the estate. I set out on a much more extensive ramble through streets and long trails and old railway lines.

Together, the four regions offer an interesting fusion of ideas which flow seamlessly one to the next, despite the influences that helped form them originating in places hundred and thousands of kilometres apart in the physical world. For example – and to take the regions in reverse order to that given above – take Ethereal City Beauty. Sitting within the south-east of the estate, it presents as a coastal region which could reside almost anywhere in the world. For me, it held a sense of perhaps being borrowed from the smaller islands just of the Scottish coast or perhaps those scattered along the Danish and German Baltic coasts.

Being a gathering of little islands, the region offers the opportunity to take the water on little motorboats and putter around, or – for those finding their way to the bar at the extreme eastern tip of the largest island in the group – the chance to go swimming. There are also multiple places it sit and relax and / or enjoy a little romance and dancing; however, do keep in mind the two islands in the north-east corner of the region, one of which carries a large house on its back, are both part of a private residence, and so while the small cove before it is open to boats and swimmers, do please respect privacy.

A single point of contact for traveller links Ethereal City Beauty with Ethereal City Legacy. It takes the form of an iron girder bridge of the kind many might well associate with the railroads of North America. Tracks still sit on the bridge, but on the far side from the islands they vanish, leaving only a broad expanse of gravel forming a path through the region and to hint at where the line may once have run.

Keeping up the sense of open countryside that could have been lifted from almost anywhere in the world (or at least the northern hemisphere!), Ethereal City Legacy is a mixed public / private rentals setting so again, discretion is required to avoid trespass into private homes.  Fortunately, most of the houses are clearly denoted as private by the presence of gated access as the various paths and trails lead to them, making accidental trespass harder, providing one keeps to the footpaths.

Richly wooded and rugged, the region offers a good sense of privacy for each of the rentals properties, with the landscaping richly capturing a sense of the wild outdoors. More bridges span gorges and water whilst wood hewn from trees has been used to help retain other paths at they climb slopes in steps, reducing the risk of them being washed away in heavy rains, and a network of lamps to light the way at night.

All of the trails – assuming you’ve come from Ethereal City Beauty in following this articles – lead eventually to the northern coast of the region (passing by way of various scenic / romantic spots in the process). Here sits a waterfront parade of shops, the local rental office (also the landing point for the region) and the local railways station. Fronting the rental office is a broad terrace and wide span of a stone bridge reaching across the channel to connect with Ethereal City.

The entryway to Ethereal City takes the form of a modest square sitting under the arch of an old city gate. This also forms the main landing point for the city, and so offers a good place to start general explorations. To help with the latter, the Information Centre offers a series of quick teleports to various points of interest around the city for those content to hop around.

The city is a curious fusion of European and Sino-Japanese sensibilities throughout, and is marked by multiple public spaces and buildings interspersed with private (and commercial?) rentals. Like urban centres the world over, the city has older elements bumping up against more modern, whilst a narrow-gauge train chugs its way around street-level tracks, available for people to hop on and off at will. The public spaces offered at the Information Centre sit both at the ground level and up on or  within some of the taller buildings, the latter offering views over which is a very mixed urban setting.

A Sino-French connection is to be found within Ethereal City Noir, which connects to Ethereal City via a road-topped causeway. Largely put together by Dandy Warhlol (terry Fotherington) on Noon’s behalf, this is intended to offer a fusion of Paris and the Shanghai French Concession. This was one of a number of colonial concessions negotiated / forced on the Chinese empire by European powers whereby ports, sections of cities and parts of regions were forced into control by said countries.

In the case of France, the Chinese conceded certain territory around the city of Shanghai in 1849, leaving it under French administrative control through until 1943 when the Vichy government surrendered it to Japanese control before it reverted to Chinese ownership following the end of World War 2. Throughout that period, it was established and remained one of the major centres of Catholicism in China.

During its time, the Concession went through multiple changes and expansions, some of the more popular sections becoming heavily influenced by French architectural and road design, with broad avenues (such as Avenue Joffre), apartment houses and large houses set within walled gardens. Today, several examples of these influences remain, and the former Concession residential districts are among the most affluent in modern Shanghai.

Ethereal City Noir captures some of this whilst also mixing it with elements suggestive of the banks of Seine and the cobbles streets south of the Champs-Élysées, albeit on a much smaller scale and perhaps a little more whimsically. This is a place where area seem to blend together, with touches of the 1930s, 1950s and more recent times mixes easily with the architecture of earlier periods – there’s even a suggestion of France’s medieval history, while overhead a hint of the Montgolfier brothers drifts on the wind.

As with Ethereal City, Noir offers much to see and explore, and together then make a contrasting pair of settings for photography when paired with the more open countryside of Legacy and Beauty. When taken as a whole the estate offers a richly rewarding visit.

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All regions in the estate are rated Moderate

• Ethereal City Noir
• Ethereal City
• Ethereal City Legacy
• Ethereal City Beauty

Occupying one quarter of a Full region leveraging the private region Land Capacity bonus, lies The Last Aokigahara Souls. A highly photogenic setting cast beneath a night sky, this is a place designed primarily designed by Eddie Takeda and Clair Wolf Takeda (Kajda1610) which is open to the public, and is described as a piece of Japanese nature where visitors can relax and enjoy a good cup of tea.

The name appears to have been taken from Aokigahara, the Blue Tree Meadow (also known as the Sea of Trees); a rich forest which has grown on some 30 square kilometres of lava laid down by the last major eruption of Mount Fuji in 864 CE. Located on the volcano’s north-west flank, the forest is a popular tourist destination, and has a historical reputation as a home to yūrei, the ghosts of the dead – something which might again be perhaps reflected in the parcel’s name.

Like its namesake, The Last Aokigahara Souls is a place where volcanic rock can be found – notably in the curtain cliffs which bound this sky-based location, and in the multiple basalt columns and outcrops found throughout. Also like its namesake, this is a richly wooded setting, home to both streams and pools of water, where exploration is encouraged along paths and trails.

The landing point sits within the outer courtyard of a large traditional-styles Japanese house, a smaller guest house facing it from across the gravel floor of the courtyard. Information boards to one side avail themselves to visitors, as does the seating located within the courtyard. Access to the house is via a set of inner courtyards, and once inside, visitors can make their way through the inner courtyards to where coffee awaits thirsty folk at the back of the house, or those wishing to unwind a little more can partake of sake in one of the two side rooms of the lower floor.

There are two exits from the landing point. The first is a gravel footpath marked by a red Torii gate to one side of the main courtyard or by crossing a simply log bridge which spans the stream paralleling the courtyard beyond the screen of bamboo running alongside the guest house. This to another Torii gate on the far side of the stream and a short gravel path alive with local wildlife, which provides access to a romantic little gazebo where couple might enjoy a dance or two.

The main path, meanwhile point the way to a little outdoor eatery, complete with its own little lantern-strung courtyard eating area. Here the path splits the two arms each bordering a side of a large pond fed by low waterfalls. Pointing away from the eatery, the first arm of the path directs explorers between the pond and more bamboo to where a further Torii gate guards stone steps as they start a curving climb up a hill whose flanks are hidden under the drooping cover of the trees. The second arm of the path runs onward past the eatery to joint to be cross by another path running down from the hills via a further – and straight – stair, which is again marked at its base by the presence of a Torii gate.

Both of the paths up the hill lead to the same destination: a temple and shrine. Illuminated by lanterns and sitting within a small garden space, the temple presents visitors with the options of spending time in quiet contemplation or sitting before Buddha whilst awaiting enlightenment as the heavens turn overhead. That the two paths both lead up to and down from the temple means they offer a tidy loop around this part of the setting without the need to retrace steps.

The path at the foot of the straight stairway not only crosses the one leading outward from the landing point, it continues on to where a small red bridge arches over the stream as it is beautifully lit by floating lanterns sitting on rafts clearly anchored against the swift flow of its current. Across the bridge, the path enters a Zen garden offering multiple points of interest to explore and in which to spend time.

Within this corner of the setting can be found a further shrine, a small watermill sharing its space with a family of pandas (a typical inclusion within many Japanese-themed settings, despite the fact the panda is not native to that land – although it is beloved of Japanese people); a garden marked by the presence of a huge tree in Sakura-like bloom where a couple might enjoy cuddles under a smaller tree, watched over by both Buddha and Japanese cranes; and a gravel-floored space beyond the latter garden, which can also reached by a separate path running from the Zen garden, providing the home for a small teahouse where a rather talent kitty is available to entertain visitors.

In addition, for those passing by the watermill, a further pair of bridges cross over the water channel cut to turn the mill’s wheel and (again) over the stream. These connect with a further path running under the lee of one of the boundary cliffs, climbing a set of steps as it does so to reach a little hideaway overlooking a rounded pond. Fed on one side by falls dropping from the cliffs and with its own falls tumbling to feed both mill and stream below, the pond is home to dancing crane, koi that calmly swim under the surface and lanterns which float above, lilies and basalt outcrops completing this near-idyllic spot where tea might again be enjoyed.

Set as it is within a sky platform, The Last Aokigahara Souls is beautifully presented; the space has been wisely used to give a sense of a location larger than its actual size, allowing for plenty of exploration without immediately feeling one is simply retracing steps. There are also multiple opportunities throughout for photography, whilst the setting gives people a chance to get away from others and enjoy a little time alone and in peace.

As noted, The Last Aokigahara Souls does sit under a (quite glorious) night sky by default, but it also lends itself to other EEP settings for photography, as I hope a couple of the images here demonstrate.

Definitely a place to be visited, and my thanks to Shawn Shakespeare for pointing me to it.

SLurl Details

• The Last Aokigahara Souls (Lam, rated Moderate)

It is said that as his government faced the Sterling Crisis of 1964, former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson quipped, “A week is a long time in politics”. Whether he did in fact say anything of the sort is a subject for debate by those so inclined. However, it does give me the opportunity to offer something of a corollary of sorts: a month is a long time in Second Life.

I say this because within a month of my writing about Monica Mercury’s Burrow Wood County, originally located within a quarter-region parcel of a Full private region, had closed and elements from within it relocated to an expanded set of parcels occupying fully half of another Full private region. Here they sit within a setting of two halves: Burrow Wood – Road to Nowhere and Burrow Wood by the Sea, and Monica recently and kindly invited me over to pay a visit and update my records.

Once again designed for Monica by Teagan Lefevre of Le’eaf & Co fame, there is much about the this location that is mindful of Burrow Wood County: the same dusty roads, the presence of a run-down motel, the auto shop / garage, the trailer par, and so on. But so too is there much that is new within the expanded landscape, making a further visit worthwhile, even if you did drop into Burrow Wood County just before it closed. That said, a little care might be required with explorations this time around, as the setting now includes a number of rental properties available as private residences, so trespass is to be avoided.

Each part of the location has its own landing point; however, for the sake of convenience, I’m starting my description from the Road to Nowhere landing point, given it sits towards the back of the setting, below the curtain of cliffs which separate Burrow Wood from the neighbouring parcel occupying the region. I also opted to use my personal “travelling” EEP settings when taking the pictures seen in this piece.

As with the former incarnation of Burrow Wood, this landing point sits at a bus stop, giving visitors the impression they’ve just been dropped off by said transport. Across the road is a lumber yard, and next door to that the familiar motel, facing a slightly upbeat diner as the track runs arrow-straight to the auto shop / garage and splits, one arm sweeping into the little trailer park, the other pointing due south. As it does so, it passes over a familiar old railway bridge, giving the suggestion the track from the landing point may have once been the bed of the railway line. Beyond the bridge, the track runs parallel to a water channel cutting through this part of the setting, passing one of the rental homes before diving trough another tunnel to arrive at the gated access to Burrow Wood by the Sea (passing the latter’s bus stop landing point in the process).

Here the channel the track has been accompanying is given the look of a canal, the banks built over with retaining walls supporting pedestrian-only sidewalks serving. These serve the shop on either side of the channel before dipping down to become / serve small wharves where larger boats moor moor. Two bridges span the channel, each elevated enough to allow smaller boats to pass under them and possibly moor at the floating pier with its gas pump. Sitting between the channel and a small shingle beach is another familiar location: the local oyster house from Burrow Wood County, now offering more outdoor space for diners – and possibly the local seagulls if people aren’t careful!

A single track runs outwards from the town to the west, forming a broad alley between the local bookshop and café. Unpaved and with dirt compacted down from years of use, it runs uphill to where a third tunnel sits,  as the track leads up to another tunnel, this one apparently closed to traffic for whatever reason. Either side of the track is tree-shaded grasslands offer a sense of open wilderness. To one side, this land is cut through by a fast-flowing stream as it tumbles away from the falls which give it life, before it dives into what is presumably a natural bore hole which drops the water down under Burrow Wood by the Sea’s café and into that main waterway.

The falls feeding the stream drop from an arm of rock reaching out from the western curtain of cliffs to neatly split the landscape in two as it steps its way down to meet the main water channel. Tucked under this arm of rock and reached by a makeshift bridge spanning the tumbling stream, is a small cobble-floored terrace and wooden pergola offering visitors a place to sit. Across the stream from it and a little more down slope can be found a shaded picnic spot caught in the loop of a public footpath and, beyond that, another rental property.

Across the dividing wall of rock the landscape is equally rich and varied as it reaches back towards the building of Road to Nowhere. A wild garden, open to the public can be found on the slopes as they drop down from cliffs to water channel. A round gazebo, well shaded by trees sits within this garden, and both garden and gazebo might at first glance easily be taken to be extensions of the rental home sitting at the top of the slope as it climbs towards the backdrop of cliffs. However, this is not the case, as the fence marking the boundary of the rental property makes clear.

A large and deep pool of water makes up a good part of the landscape here, crossed towards one end by an old wood-framed, covered bridge; what appears to be a relic of a bygone era. A rutted track curves up from one side of the bridge and under the lee of the cliffs, suggesting that perhaps this was once a main right-of-way for carts and wagons – perhaps back in the day when the main track was still home to a railway track. However, across its span, the rest of this rutted route has in part been lost, leaving only a sign alongside at the back of the auto shop to note it is now “road closed”.

With its richly diverse landings, good use of ambient locals sounds, and the careful, natural dividing of the overall setting into a number of distinct areas, Burrow Wood offers photographer, explorers and casual visitors a lot to see and appreciate, and perfectly expands upon Burrow Wood County. My thanks to Monica for the invite to visit!

SLurl Details

All of Burrow Wood is rated Adult.

• Burrow Wood: Road to Nowhere
• Burrow Wood by the Sea