Category: Exploring Second Life

NorderNey – click any image for full size

I was surprised to note that it’s been getting towards three years since I last visited NorderNey, Jacky Macpherson’s homestead design (see here for more). A lot has happened since then, not the least of which is Jacky has moved, so that the region now has a sim of its own bearing the same name, although visitors will need Payment Information On File in order to access it.

Back in 2014, NorderNey was decidedly a rural scene, rich in the feel and colours of late summer. Now, while still bathed in warmth and sunlight, NorderNey is now far more tropical in look and feel; a sandy island over which seagulls wheel soar while sailing boats lie anchored offshore.

NorderNey

It can be a windy place – as some of the trees, their trunks bent and branches set like streamers, can attest – but you’ll likely find conditions calm during your visit.  And just as the waters of the sea surround it, so does the coral white sand lap around islands of grass and trees, where can be found three cabins.

Two of these, at opposite ends of the island, are flat-topped and as white as the sand. The third sits between them, far enough from each to be a comfortable walk. Its sloped roof is made of corrugated iron sheets while the brown of its unpainted walls contrasts with the white finish of the others. If you’re using Firestorm when you visit, you’ll find that all three have a local parcel windlight, which sets the sun on the horizon, casting an end-of-day glow across the sea.

NorderNey

The cabin at the north end of the island has a homely feel to it. Chickens and geese are in the garden, a cat hungrily eyeing chicks from the back of a scooter while another washes itself, oblivious to the wandering morsels. Scooters, bikes and motorcycles are something of a theme here, with several leaning against fences or parked on their stands, a shed offering a place to service them and keep them dry when the weather turns.

The other cabins have the look of being retreats from the world; perhaps the boats anchored offshore belong to those using them. All three of the buildings are watched over – in a disinterested way – by horses and sheep which roam freeing across the island, free to wander across the island and graze on the grass.

NorderNey

There is a wonderful sense of peace about NorderNey. The wind may keen occasionally, the gulls offer plaintive cries as it does, but the sense of peace cannot be easily shattered. If anything, it is increased by the presence of a kite caught in the breeze and a pelican sitting contentedly on a breakwater. It’s the kind of place you can easily imagine sailing to and spending a quiet week or so living in one of the cabins, strolling the beach barefoot, or going for leisurely trips on the water, or swimming in the cove formed by the island’s curve.

With little places to sit, chat, share or just ponder, NorderNey is a wonderful escape from everything, and remains a recommended visit. Should you enjoy your time there, please consider leaving a donation as a show of appreciation.

NorderNey

SLurl Details

• NorderNey (NorderNey, rated: Moderate)

“We got bored!” Ty Tenk of Calas Galadhon fame laughed, passing me an invite for Caitlyn and I to visit the Calas Skate-o-Rama. “Rolling skating in the middle of the desert. But be careful crossing the highway!”

It actually took us a couple of days to get the opportunity to visit, but with Friday night sitting with us, we hopped over to find out more – and in Typical Ty and Truck style, the venue is fetchingly presented and a lot of fun.

Visitors arrive at a roadside stop on Route 66. The moon hovers low in the sky, and sandstone mesas break-up the horizon. Across the road, resplendent in neon and  art deco styling, sits the Calas Skate–O-Rama, searchlights sweeping the darkening skies. This is a poplar place: the asphalt car park is almost full. Once across the road, the deco style doors to the arena beckon – and hide a secret. Step through them, and far from leaving the desert skies behind and you going indoors, you enter an open-air rink, a 50’s style diner to one side, and a live performance stage on the other.

Between them sits the skating floor, and it is built to take a fair few! Roller skates can be obtained from the giver just inside the arena entrance – you just need to join the Calas Announcements Group if you’re not already a member. Swap your shoes for the skates, turn off your AO and you are all set.  You can then free skate or – using the pose and dance system (instructions supplied in the air over them) – you can skate and dance.

It’s surprisingly a lot of fun, particularly if there are a number of you; and as is always the case at the Calas regions (the arena is on the Calas special events region of Erebor), the music is superbly selected. There are regular live music events planned throughout March as well, so check the Calas Galadhon blog for details.

Should you need a break from the dancing, you can enjoy a burger at the bar (or have it delivered to you by one of the roller skating staff 🙂 ), or take a seat on the couches to the side of the skating floor. And if you fancy a wander, the desert is worth seeing, and has one or two surprises!

As we skated, I asked Ty what would be happening at the end of March. “Oh, we have a few things planned for over the summer!” he said with a smile and a wink, but without saying more. We look forward to finding out – and to hopping back to the Skate-O-Rama well before then!

SLurl Details

• Calas Skate-O-Rama (Erebor, rated: Moderate)

Long Journey – click any image for full size

Update: Long Journey has relocated, and I have a new blog post about it.

Creativity in Second Life doesn’t always require an entire region – Full or Homestead – in order to be realised. This is something I’ve said in the past, and will doubtless say again in the future. All it needs is sufficient room in which the imagination can breathe; and if you want proof of this, then I can recommend you take a trip over to Long Journey.

Covering a little under 7,000 square metres, Long Journey is an absolute delight. Designed by Yang (Sun2idea), it packs a lot into the space without ever feeling crowded or losing its sense of rural-edged peace.  Visitors arrive at a little coffee-house and bar; to the rear is a cosy walled terrace with tables tucked between tall wine racks and the bar; to the front sits a paved street, the nearby end of which slips into a tunnel.

Long Journey

Along this street, bathed in the soft glow of a setting sun, lit by tiny LEDs strung along the curbstones and clusters of street lights, are a number of eateries with a decidedly oriental flavour to them. Vending machines line the wall of the building across the street from the coffee-house,  while alongside it sits another cosy little café. Close by, a converted tram offers teas and cakes to patrons who can sit at tables occupying a tidy square of grass, one of several outdoor eating areas.

Just beyond the tram, the street ends, and a wooden board walk takes over, running alongside a small body of water. To one side of it is an old warehouse, one of its walls long since collapsed, exposing its metal frame. It is now home to a curious and eclectic mix of things. On the opposite side of the board walk, most of the water is taken up by an old house boat, its square prow abutting the whitewashed building forming the southern boundary to the street.

Long Journey

Nor is this all. At the point where the street gives way board walk, a tiled path points the way to one side. It runs between tram café and water to a little platform, where a steam train is just pulling in, its carriages slowly emerging from another tunnel. Alongside the track, the sheer wall of an old factory rises like a great brick cliff. Roofless, its windowless flank rich in graffiti and drawings, it invites exploration.

But to describe everything to be found here – the little house, what lies inside the old factory or the warehouse with its broken wall, the field of sunflowers marching into the scene and more – is really a waste. This is a place which really does deserve to be seen  – to be savoured – to really be appreciated.

Long Journey

The level of detail packed into it is exquisite, from the richness of the trees, shrubs and plants, to the little vignettes such as the lilies and rowing boats, to the cats which sit in indifference to the world or watch from roof or corner, all the way to the many little touches which bring this scene to life in so many ways.

If you are looks for a photo location with a personality of its own, or a place where you can while away the time with a friend or loved one – then take a Long Journey, I promise you will not be disappointed. Our thanks to Shakespeare (once again! 🙂 ).

SLurl Details

• Long Journey (Nightshark, rated Moderate)

Today, the telephone – in the form of pocket-sized smartphones – is an essential part of most people’s every day life. Looking at one, it is hard to imagine how far the technology behind this means of long-distance communication has come since its birth in the 1870s.

Of course, we all know something of the history of the telephone, with names like Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Grey (if not poor Antonio Meucci) being familiar to many of us, if only as a result of our school days. But what is it’s real story? How did the early telephones work? what have been the various eras of the ‘phone?

Denzel Coy brilliantly and charmingly answers these questions in Second Life through his Telephone Museum. Within it, visitors can explore the telephone’s entire history, from its beginnings with the unfortunate Meucci, the unlucky Grey and the fortunate Bell, through the first box systems, to candlesticks and on to the rotary era – all the way up to the modern cellphone.

This is a fabulous environment for anyone interested in history or technology as well as the telephone. On displays are around 50 exquisitely crafted telephones from the last 140 years, made by a number of Second Life creators – Raya Jonson, Jin Zhu, Zaida Gearbox, Neotoy Story and Plato Novo, to name but a handful, as well as Denzel himself. Alongside of them are information boards complete with audio playback capabilities, allowing visitors to read or hear the information they contain, together with reproductions of adverts for telephones from the different eras, and more.

The displays are laid out around two levels, with the lower progressing from information on Meucci, Grey and Bell, through to the arrival of rotary dial telephones in the 1920s. These displays are all offered around a model of the very first telephone device from 1876. From here, visitors can progress to the mezzanine level, and the history of the telephone from the 1950s through to the present day, with a brief detour into the world of the military field telephone.

As well as the audio capabilities, the museum includes a number of interactive elements – including the display case of the aforementioned 1876 device being alarmed against theft! There is also a gacha station, where visitors can obtain a number of items, including some rare models of the ‘phones on display and the Telephone Museum Ultimate Guide. There is also a trivia competition on the main floor, where people can test the knowledge they’ve gained during their visit.

This is a superb exhibit to visit, perfectly presented in an environment designed by Denzel. Informative and educational, it is also entertaining and offers another look at just how exquisite mesh models can be in Second Life.

SLurl Details

• The Telephone Museum (Dent, rated: Moderate)

As we all know, the Moles are the resident builders of Second Life who form the Linden Department of Public Works (LDPW). They take care of all the major Mainland infrastructure projects, up to and including activity locations such as PaleoQuest, The Horizons Experience, and other reached via the Portal Parks.

February tends to be Mole Month, with the annual Mole Day taking place in Bay City, celebrating the work of the Moles. 2017 has also been especially poignant for the Moles, as their long-term Mole-In-Chief, Linden Lab’s own Michael Linden, departed the company for pastures new. This being the case, I thought I’d take a little time out occasionally to visit some of the more notable Mole builds in Second Life which may not be as obvious as the “big” places like the Horizons Experience – and a good place to start, thanks to an indirect nudge from Kinnaird Flachra, seemed to be the Shareta Osumai Tea Gardens.

The Tea Gardens can be found in three locations in Second Life: in the Premium East continent (which also includes Cape Ekim, and the mystery of dragons and Professor Linden, which I first visited far back in 2013), and at Premium South 2 and Premium South 3. All three locations, unsurprisingly, are identical, and form part of the hub for the Japanese themed Linden Homes.

The major feature of the gardens is the pagoda tea house which sits alongside and ornamental pond fed by a stream which tumbles and meanders down from nearby uplands. The tea house is set within a fenced garden, filled with autumnal trees and offering cobbled paths for wandering, the stream cross by delicately arched bridges, and with a small sand garden or meditation.  Those not wishing to walk can catch a ride around the garden on a mole-pulled ricksaw.

Beyond the garden is a broader area of trees and cobbled walks to be enjoyed and, northwards, lies a path winding up into the hills to the local Info Hub, where various freebies can be obtained and people can learn about Linden Homes. This path, winding via stone steps, also leads the way via  Mole Temple – which (and while it didn’t contain anywhere near as many statues) reminded me a little of the Temple of 10,000 Buddhas, Shatin, Hong Kong.

It’s easy to be dismissive of the Linden Home continents – I’m not a great fan of many of the house styles myself, and do find myself wishing more was done to blend the edges of some more naturally into the sea where they form the edge of the grid – but areas such as the Shareta Osumai Tea Gardens, Cape Ekim and others scattered across these regions offer little gems awaiting discovery.

SLurls and Links

All the tea garden areas are rated Moderate

• Shareta Osumai Tea Gardens, Premium East
• Shareta Osumai Heights Tea Gardens, Premium South 3
• Shareta Osumai Tea Gardens, Mitami, Premium South 2
• Other LDPW locations covered in this blog (excluding Experience regions):
  • Temple of the Prim (rated:  Moderate)- see A pilgrimage of the prim in Second Life
  • The Prim Rig (rated: Moderate) – see A journey to the source of prims in Second Life
  • Cape Ekim (rated: Moderat) – see: Of forgotten explorers, dragons and mysteries