Category: Exploring Second Life

Lakeside is an attractive and somewhat eclectic homestead region designed by Kimmy Sweetwater as a place for exploration and hanging out. The majority of the region is open to the public, but there are rentals to be found within the setting, so some care is needed to avoid invading privacy (or at least avoiding getting a security orb growling at you).

The region takes its name from the fact it is formed around a large lake, one with a central island complete with little holiday camp site. This limits the amount of landmass available to explore – but this doesn’t make the region any less interesting; rather the reverse: it requires a more creative use of the landmass that is still available., which in turn makes exploration more interesting.

Visitors arriving at Lakeside are directed via landing point to the north side of the region and the waterside café located there. The landing point is guarded by an avatar mover that shifts arrivals away from it in order to prevent avatars landing one on top of / within one another. This helps prevent avatar stacking, but in this case the mover can randomly relocate the odd visitor into the bushes to one side of the trail running past the café.

Take this trail to the west, and it will lead you to a rocky dune that shelters a west-facing beach running the length of the region. Take the same trail eastwards, and it curls past a green hill overlooking the lake. Both the beach immediately beyond the dune and the top of the hill are home to five rentals units: two small cottages on the hilltop, three beach houses raised above the sand. I mention this because it is easy to miss the fact they are rentals, and get an annoyed security orb grumbling at you.

Those wishing to reach the public beach to the west can do so in two ways: by scuttling past the beach houses or by following the edge of the lake to where a board walk points the way south, running past a small deck before climbing the spine of the hill to offer a way down to the beach, or onwards to where hills rise in the south-west corner of the region and extend along the southern side. The ridge line above the beach could perhaps do with a little more blending between mesh and terrain when seen from the lake, but while noticeable, it doesn’t massively interrupt the scenery.

The south-western uplands are home to a camp site amidst the trees and bushes crowning the hill, and to a hidden cavern reached via a single tunnel from the beach. This is home to a large club space, the far corner of which opens out to where a large deck area with seating has been built.

The south side of the region is marked by further hills, which in part hide another rental property – easily avoided by following either of the two paths down the slopes and across the narrow tongue of water connecting the lake with the surrounding waters beyond the region. Rising once more on the east side of the region, the hills provide a open-air self-service weddings space (just pay the official L$500 to get started).

To the east, the land sits between southern and northern hills to form low-lying grasslands marked by what might at first appear to be another private cabin, but which is in fact open to the public, despite the surrounding fencing. This offers further places to sit, notably on the deck extending into the lake waters. Also to be found at the cabin is a Teagle horse rezzer for those who wish to ride around the region (those with their own wearable horses can obviously use them if they fancy a ride around the landscape). For those who want time on the water, there are rowing boats located at the various lakeside decks and offering places to sit, while the landing point café  has a bumper boat rezzer alongside its deck.

Overall, a charming, easy-on the eye (and viewer) region, with a lot of opportunities for passing the time alone or with friends. Do note that as this is an adult region, nudity is permitted in places.

Note: the images here do not include the sim surround used with the region, due to issues with it rezzing / rendering.

SLurl Details

• Lakeside (Roleplay Heaven, rated Adult)

We dropped into Bart Bader’s Homestead region of Kindred Spirit at the weekend as we bounced around Second Life. It’s a place that has recently had a make-over, a Bart noted to me as we chatted while I took photographs in preparation for this article.

I did have it as a rural country sim, but returned to my love of Fantasy for this build. Every month I’ll be making small additions to keep it fresh. We’ve had a few of the Photo clubs using it for their challenges, so changing things up helps keep it fresh for them.

– Bart Bader, discussing Kindred Spirit

With the new design, Bart has created a setting that is eye-catching and imagination calling. The fantasy element is evident almost from the time of arrival, but in the must subtle of ways. The landing point, located towards the south-west corner of the region, sits at the end of a meandering track illuminated by ornate lighting posts that glow from within, the delicate forms of Noke Yuitza’s glass roses growing large to one side of the track, a crystal raised amidst ruins on the other. More fantasy elements await the opportunity to reveal themselves as visitor explore the region.

This is a place of multiple settings, each carefully separated from the rest to give a sense of space and privacy, all of them drawn together by landscaping and theme into a contiguous whole that draws visitors ever deeper into a feeling that they are in a mystical realm. Beyond a three-way bridge, for example, the path branches, one arm dipping down to the west where a ring of elven arches encircle a netted bed, while a second arm leads to a cliff edge sculpted by the fall of water from high pools to form arches, walkways and vantage points offering views to the east across the bay that cuts deeply into the landscape.

Here steps lead down to the very water itself, where tiles of flagstones raise their backs above the gentle waves, leading the way to a cavern below the cliffs – a place, Bart informed me, recently added as a part of refreshing elements of the build over time. The cavern, cliffs and their surrounds present multiple places to sit that in turn offer a captivating view to the eastern extent of the region of which more in a moment.

The region is split into two large islands linked by a single narrow bridge. The more northern of these islands continues the presentation of multiple settings ranging little track-side cosy spots to more hints of elven influence together with medieval twists – notably the low-lying ruins at the north-east headland of the island. To the east lies a marvellous grass-topped plateau to the east, home to the remnants of what might have once been a little chapel, but is now home to the first of a number of Mistrero Hifeng’s sculptures to be found within the region, and an aged piano.

To the eastern end of this almost garden-like setting stands a circular gateway with stone steps beyond forming a cleft that descends once more to water level, and what can only be described as the most marvellous water garden that dominates the eastern side of the island – and perhaps the region as a whole – with its beauty.

It is here that frosted trees raise their boughs to the sky as they in turn rise from the waters, forming an extended copse through which mist swirls and stepping stones wind. Awaiting discovery here are sculptures, statues, more of Yoke’s glass flowers, a little draped pavilion with winged chair and ornamentation and more, all watched over by another of Mistero’s statues sitting atop a winding stair. It is a place just made for photography, and with several places to sit and appreciate it scattered through out.

Standing tall over this quite beautiful setting, and at its easternmost extreme, there rises a tall tree. It is home to an elven platform reached by a covered stair that coils upwards around the tree trunk. Reached via a path passing beneath what can only be described as water splashes frozen in time to form a series of arches, the tree stands as if looking eastward across the Sundering Sea, awaiting sign of ships sailing from the far-off lands of Middle Earth to reach the hallowed lands of Aman, of which Kindred Spirit might be considered an offshore pairing of islands.

It is this water garden that so captivated me on looking outward from the southern island’s cliffs, and which I would suggest is the gem of this evocative region. However, the north island has one more setting – possibly easily missed when crossing the bridge if one is focused on following the track eastwards. Clearly revealed from the high elven platform and sitting on a low shelf of rock thrusting out into the bay is a glass pavilion (a Trompe Loeil design popular with region designers), fronted by a deck built out over the water. Home to the cosy bric-a-brac oft found in the presence of men and women, it is distinctly un-elven in look and feel, yet it fits the setting perfectly, not only offering another little setting-within-a-scene, but also reminding us that while Aman was the spiritual home for Tolkien’s elves, it was by no means exclusively so; and thus with the pavilion, Bart adds another delightful twist to the fantasy themes running throughout Kindred Spirit.

Now to be sure, there is a lot of mesh and textures used throughout the region which can impact performance, so disabling shadows when walking around or dropping draw distance might be advisable. However this is a small price to pay for spending time in what is, without a doubt, a captivating, utterly photogenic setting, one that calls on the imagine to take flight.

SLurl Details

• Kindred Spirit (Kindred Spirit 2, rated Adult)

In September 2018, we visited Florence Bay, a homestead region held by Gnaaah Xeltentat and Tomaso Franizzi and landscaped by Minnie Atlass (see A rendezvous with Florence Bay in Second Life). The island was designed as a mix of public / private spaces, with both Gnaaah and Tomaso have their homes located there. It was a charming, eye-catching setting, and we thoroughly enjoyed spending time exploring it – so it was with a sense of anticipation we accepted an invitation from Gnaaah to visit the latest Homestead setting he’s offering to the public as a destination.

Designed and built by Iska (sablina), Florence at Low Tide presents a wholly new design that maintains some of the rugged wildness of Florence Bay whilst moving the setting very much more southwards than that build, placing the region more in keeping with it’s name, as it carries a strong Mediterranean theme.

The land has a distinct north-south orientation, with the southern lowlands offering a shale foreshore cut by stream that tumbles down from the northern uplands and a waterfall that drops from a truncated peak in the north-est corner of the region. With the west side of the region separated from the rest by a narrow channel spanned by two solid bridges, the region offers a Tuscan look with the houses and buildings to be found either side of the bridges.

Chief among the buildings is a large villa with a south-facing aspect, its terraced swimming pool overlooking the receding tide to the south, where the exposed shale is home to a  – temporarily – beached fishing boat and numerous rowing boats that sit on the grey stones or are surrounded by reeds as they manage to keep a measure of water about them. Behind this villa sits a bar with an outdoor music space, it and the small house beyond it separated from the local petrol station by the narrow road that runs around a portion of the setting, offering an easy means of exploration.

That the tide is out is again revealed by the channel splitting the region. The height of the bridges, coupled with the sheer sides of the channel walls suggests that when the tide is in, much of this little gorge sits underwater. Such is the lie of the land to the north-west, it would appear that the lighthouse sitting out on the low headland is in fact cut off from the rest of the island once the tide does come in.

The lighthouse looks across the bay to the high peak that feeds the waterfalls and stream to the east. At the time of our visit, this area was still being worked on by Iska, so aspects may yet change (land capacity allowing). Across the bridge, the road passes a field of sunflowers and the gates to a little chapel perched on a shoulder of the hills, the stream curling and churning down the slopes around it.

From here it is possible to climb the rocks up to the large pool sitting at the foot of the waterfalls, feeding the stream. There are a couple of adjustments to the stream sections that could be made here, but they can easily be ignored in a trek up to the pool and then back down the far bank of the stream.

Below the stream as it turns past the chapel, the road loops around an orchard watched over by a vineyard and a stone-built farmhouse that sits like a centre point within the region, commanding views out over the southern shores and west towards the rest of the little village.

Through all of this, there’s a lot of small details waiting to be found. These range from a trio of little sailing boats fashions from little pieces of wood to boules at the bar, going by way of the local cat community – some of which are taking a very keen interest in the region’s bird population.

Caught under a late afternoon sky, rich with ambient sounds and opportunities to sit in and around the houses (and in some of the rowing and motor boats), Florence at Low Tide makes for another charming visit, rich in opportunities for photography and simple exploration. Our thanks to Gnaaah for the invitation to drop in.

SLurl Details

• Florence at Low Tide (Florence, rated Moderate)

A timeless land filled with Enchantment and Magic. Step into spring and feel the warmth. A Magical place for exploring, relaxing and taking photos with family and friends.

So reads the description for Enchantment! @ LeLoo’s World, occupying just under a quarter Mainland Full region and located on a sky platform. Designed by LeLooUlf, this is is a delight of a garden setting offering a lot to see without feeling crowded, a place full of character – and characters -, with plenty of opportunities to pass the time on your own or with a friend or friends and for photography.

It’s a welcoming place – a point brought home on arrival, as evidenced by the two of the local characters holding up a welcome banner at the landing point.

Backed by high falls tumbling down from the curtains of cliffs that enclose much of the garden – but which do not make it feel overly claustrophobic -the landing point looks out across the first part of the garden, revealing some of its delights: the raised sitting points clinging to the cliffs and reached by a mix of steep wooden steps and bridges suspended by clouds; the colourful banks of flowers to act as backdrops for photography, and a cast of local wildlife and other creatures that cannot fail to raise a smile.

This is a place rich in places to sit, some obvious, some tucked away and requiring a careful eye to find as you explore. Also awaiting discovery throughout the garden are a number of teleport points. These allow visitors to hop through the major sights of the garden – but with a couple of exceptions, the places they lead to can also be reached by gentle exploration, so I’d really suggest you let your feet take the strain and wander along the grassy paths to discover all that is available within the gardens before turning to the teleport options to reach those you can’t directly, or to ensure you’ve not not missed anything.

Doing so will take you past a cosy caravan – don’t worry about the wolves, they are as friendly as the rest of the animals to be found here – to an avenue of trees that leads to a most unique dance partner who is ready to share a range of dances with you. Beyond this, the path passes between cliffs and wall to where the garden opens out to offer on one side a large rotunda sitting within a fenced garden of its own. A small moat around the rotunda offers a place for swans to swim, whilst the grass and flowerbeds also ringing the rotunda have a musical feel to them, being occupied by a piano and harp watched over by more of the local deer.

Next to this sits a little plateau of rock that presents a setting of its own, isolated from the rest of the gardens by both the height of the plateau and the blossoms of a nearby tree, a place for picnics watched over by a rune-covered arch with a seat of its own.

Once the “ground” area of the gardens have been explored, there are the steps, ladders and bridges to be climbed and crossed to reach most of the raised parts of the setting. Like the little picnic plateau, each of these offers an individual vignette, most rich with the local characters  –  including a little group of four-footed (and winged) bookworms and a trio of fairies enjoying a picnic of their own.

As noted above, the  opportunities for photography within this setting are many; not only do the gardens naturally lend themselves to having photos taken, as I hope my images here demonstrate, but they also present multiple places for avatar-centric photos as well. These can not only be found in the many places to sit, but also through the many poses and pose stands scattered throughout the gardens. Mostly suitable for couples or pairs, these are richly varied and placed so as to take full advantage of their immediate surroundings and the the garden as a whole. Those who do take photos are invited to upload them and drop them into the in-world slide show near to the landing point, where they can be seen by other visitors.

All of this makes Enchantment @ LeLoo’s World exceptionally attractive – and even having got this far, I’ve managed to skip over other attractions that make exploration here a pleasure, such as the little cavern, or the manner in which the storybook area takes you into a famous tale of adventure taken by a certain young English girl.

Rounded-out by a matching sound-scape and open to almost any windlight setting, this really is a place of charm and enchantment; a wonderful escape from the “world below”.

SLurl Details

• Enchantment! @ LeLoo’s World (St. Martin, rated Moderate)

Miro Collas recently suggested we drop into the regions designed by Tatjana DeCuir and her SL partner, arvo, which have recently been redesigned to have an Asian / far east theme. Comprising two Full private regions making use of the additional 10K Land Capacity, they form a two-region estate that is home to a range of activities, including DJ sessions and dancing, and some that are more adult-related.

The range of activities is reflected at the skyborne landing point, which features a large teleport board (also to be found at various points on the ground) directing visitors to various locations. Which option you take is entirely dependent upon personal choice and the reason for visiting. However, if you’re dropping in to explore and / or to take photographs, Caitlyn and I would recommend the Bubble Tour teleport as a good place to start.

Located on a beach sitting in a broad bay, the Bubble Tour is a point from which it is possible to complete a full tour of the regions either on foot or via the multi-seat bubble that will fly you around and over the islands to give you a bird’s eye view of their layout and surrounds. The latter is a particularly unhurried way to pass the time when travelling with someone, as the speed ensures you can relax, set your camera position (and rotate it occasionally) and enjoy a conversation, point of the sights to one another and just appreciate the view.

Given the setting does cover two regions, there is a lot to see, and there is more than enough variation in the design to keep visitors fully engaged in travelling from beach to hilltop walk, passing through rain forest or along semi-paved paths along the way, discovering ancient ruins or well-maintained gardens, all the while drawn by the high roofs of buildings perched on cliffs or straddling stone plateaus. The network of paths and trails means that is is possible to find your way around both regions without resorting to the use of the teleport boards, but care needs also to be taken as some of the paths may not be as obvious as others.

This rich mix of settings brings together hints of Malaysia and the Philippines with those of Japan and China (notably through the buildings and the presence of panda). Given the off-sim surrounds, the feeling is very much that this is a place hidden somewhere along the Pacific coast of Asia (the presence of African elephants on the beach notwithstanding); a realm hidden amongst a group of protective islands, shielding itself from prying eyes.

From the bubble tour landing point, it is possible to go inland, climbing a natural “stairway” that looks to have been worn into the rock by the passage of time and feet (or perhaps in the distant past, by water), rather than being cut by hand, or follow the beach to the north. I’d recommend the latter route, as it presents a logical means to circumnavigate the regions, starting by taking the low bridge to cross the channel of water feeding the bay to enter the eastern region. Here the land points a bent-tipped finger out into the eastern sea, home home to a DJ stage built both over a natural pool of water and partially under the protective arc of a natural rock arch.

The finger ends in the tall and foreboding form of what might have once been a fort watching over the bay to the south. Sitting in  its own grounds and elevated in a defensive manner, it is now a location for some of the more adult activities in the estate, being a Shibari house. To one side of its paved forecourt stands a red wall with circular open gateway. Pass through this, and a shrub and tree bordered path leads back to the western region, passing by way of pandas and a bamboo glade into the region’s rain forest.

Here can be found a sense of ancient design – flagstoned ground, a broken statue to Buddha (which appears to have a rock formation sprouting through it!), shrines, water channels and much of the region’s wildlife. multiple paths wind through it, offering opportunity to explore. Some of these lead the way directly up to the plateau sitting above the rain forest that is home to what might be regarded as a former palace or similar official residence, complete with outbuildings, a water garden, reception pavilion and fountains. All are open to public use and make for a striking setting.

Just below this large terrace, however, and nestled into the south-west corner of the region is the most marvellous house and gardens setting. It can be reached by both the rock steps leading up from the beach not far from the bubble tour, or by finding the corner path and steps that clip one side of the rain forest as they descend from the plateau. I’d highly recommend leaving this aspect of the estate for the final part of any exploratory tour, and that you reach it via the path down from the high terrace, simply because the beauty of the design is well worth holding until last.

The path from the plateau will bring you by way of rock and stone arch to a gorgeous hanging garden lit by cast-iron lamps (found elsewhere in the region as well), presenting a shaded path to the house and its broader gardens. With the mix of trees, plants, water and winding paths, it is an idyllic and romantic setting which invites visitor to again relax and appreciate a natural beauty. The house itself does not appear to be a private residence, although I would suggest the best way to appreciate it is from the gardens, where there are several places to sit and pass the time.

Being a predominantly mesh build that has a very high volume of textures, it can be somewhat taxing on viewers, so saving the use of shadows for taking photos and turning them off when walking might be advisable, as might dropping draw distance if you have it set to longer distances.  However, with much to see and many places to sit and enjoy a cuddle or a dance to be found throughout both regions, and additional attractions such as the self-fly bubble cars (rezzers marked by signs), this iteration of LebensRaum is a place that can easily entice visitors into passing their time.

SLurl Details

• [The Dream of Asia] (LebensRaum, rated Adult)