Category: Exploring Second Life

Last week I posted a piece which, among other things, commented on recent issues I’ve had accessing WordPress.com to admin this blog (upload new posts, edit / update existing posts, reply to comments, etc.) and even view other people’s WordPress.com blogs. I wasn’t alone in experiencing the problem, which has lasted well over a week and a half.

According to WordPress, some of their servers had ended up on a block list at IWF as a result of a blog being put up which was in violation of their ToS (and which was quickly removed by WP). As a number of UK ISPs picked-up on the IWF notification, they blocked access to the “offending” servers, and things are now only just being untangled.

Things still aren’t quite back to normal, but my own connectivity with my blog has greatly improved in the last 24 hours. So, this being the case, I decided to start catching up (again!) on some of my destination blogging. And where better to start than at the Garden of Eden, located on the island region of Golden Rose?

The work of digital artist Liara Okiddo, Garden of Eden is beautiful proof that you don’t necessarily need a full region to produce something which is both stunning and immersive. Occupying a 8192 sqm parcel, this is a place which really has to be seen to be appreciated.

The SLurl I’m providing will land you on a  wooden walkway to one side of the parcel, with a sail boat moored alongside. Right away there are nice touches: a roll-on-roll off flight bag sits on the quay, as if put there by someone who has either just arrived on the boat, or is getting ready to sail away. Overhead, parakeets fly idly by, and butterflies flutter busily further inland.

Where you go from here is up to you – wooden walkways both climb up the rocks which shape the parcel into a shaded tropical gorge, and lead inland. However, I do recommend you go inland first. If you do, you’ll find yourself being led past a broad, shallow pool and deeper between the rocks until eventually you’ll come to a small tiki hut, tall waterfalls as a backdrop. Here you can sit a while on your own or with a friend and simply contemplate whatever enters your mind, or you can watch the hummingbirds busy in their daily chores.

When you’re ready, wander back along the walkway and perhaps admire the butterflies and parakeets before you start your climb up to the rocks above. The wooden stairs and roped walks (Alex Baders’ very familiar pieces), will take you up and around the shallow pool and bring you to a junction. Turn left, and you’ll pass over a great stone arch with a view out over the sea, the sail boat below you, to another resting place. Turn right at the junction, and the path will take you to the exhibition space.

Here is another very unique environment, designed to put the visitor at ease. There are book cases with books scattered on the floor, a dining table with a bottle of wine, glasses and candles. Pictures are displayed on easels, and a glass roof overhead lets in plenty of light and allow one a view of the lanterns floating above it. Once again, the attention to detail is wonderful, and it’s worth camming around / exploring a little to make sure you catch all of the little touches.

To say this is a truly fabulous build really doesn’t do it justice. The use of space, the overall design and layout, the amount which has been packed into the parcel, the attention to detail – all of these aspects are brought together to present a very immersive, creative place to visit and enjoy. Anyone who is limited space-wise, and is looking to see what might be achieved with a little planning, a careful eye and a dash of imagination, whether it be to establish a store, gallery or their home, should drop by Garden of Eden. It’s sure to impress and get one’s one creative juices flowing.

For those who simply like exploring, have an eye for art and enjoy photography, this is a place definitely not to be missed. Thoroughly recommended.

Related Links

• Garden of Eden SLurl (Rated: Adult)
• Liara Okiddo’s Deviant Art pages (some NSFW)
• SL Destinations in this blog

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To celebrate the fact I’m getting settled with the new PC (and have finally caught-up on all the Windows 7 updates – I think) and again have a little more time to get in-world and peek around after some RL matters demanded my attention, I decided to pay a visit to The Untroubled Sound – possibly one of the most photographed locations in SL, and deservedly so.

Modelled after the Marlborough Sounds on the South Island of New Zealand, I feel some affinity with The Untroubled Sound as somewhere deep inside me, courtesy of Dad’s side of the family, there is a little bit of New Zealand heritage.

The region has been designed and developed by Theartfullone Skytower (Arty for short) and is home to a number of his ventures, including Artful Designs, TAO audio and The Deep House Cafe.  The main part of the region is devoted to a small marina-type environment, with wooden quays for sail boats, a boatyard and the Cafe itself, with the buildings doubling-up as very subtle stores for Arty’s various businesses.

A sim surround helps develop the illusion that one is deep within the sea-drowned valleys of the Marlborough Sounds, and it is easy to imagine oneself boarding one of the sailboats or yachts moored here and heading out into the valleys and into bluewater for a day’s sailing before returning to the marina  once more and spending a little time chilling at the Deep House Cafe or perhaps strolling around the island to the campsite or simply to admire the flora here.

One of the great charms of The Untroubled Sound is the degree of love and passion for his native South Island Arty has poured into the place, which includes embarking on a project to re-plant the region using trees and plants native to the region in RL – many (if not all) of which have been created by Arty himself. This work is apparently – in another nice touch on Arty’s part – being undertaken by Te Papa Atawbai – the New Zealand Department of Conservation!

Follow the paths around the region and you’ll find information boards on the local flora which both help to give more context to the region and deepen the immersive experience, as it feels is if you are on a conservancy trail through an area of the Sounds.

This is another region which, although already stunning in its design and look, to me looks to be an ideal showcase for the use of materials. The buildings are all of wooden construction with what appear to be corrugated steel roofs, while the quays are all wood plank and wood piers and brick walls with heavy chain decoration and stone pathways  – all of which (allowing for the more complex prims and possible LI inflation) would likely look pretty amazing with materials added.

I’ve already mentioned that my SL has been given something of a new lease of life thanks to the new PC – I’m still twiddling with settings to determine what I’m most comfortable with – but I’m also using a pre-release of Firestorm, which offers a new set of windlights which are also somewhat O.O and which I’ve been experimenting with, as well as adding a few more to my personal preferences, all of which I hope will help me further with developing a look and style to my pictures. Not sure this actually means improving anything in my snap-taking, but it is new shiny for me to play with :).

In the meantime, if you’ve not visited The Untroubled Sound and want to enjoy a little slice of New Zealand paradise – I warmly recommend that you hop on over there and have a look for yourself, and leave you with a brief slide show with images in a decent resolution (for a change!).

Related Links

• The Untroubled Sound SLurl (Rated: Moderate)
• Artist’s Garden SLurl (Rated: Moderate)
• SL Destinations in this blog

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I’m not usually drawn to regions in SL with a vampiric theme to them but the home of the Gehena Vampire Clan is special. Designed by Clan member LouLou Teichmann, who is also Tableau Vivant’s set designer, working with the assistance of Neva Crystall, the region is beautifully constructed and presents an environment well worth visiting – and where visitors are welcomed and left free to explore on their own.

From the castle high on a rocky promontory, reached by a winding stone road, across to the tall, slender lighthouse and the stone-and-wood watchtower, the region is genuinely one of the “must see” places in SL.

Between these landmarks are a number of farmhouses set amidst a carefully sculpted landscape which mixes fields, trees and water, complete with the traditional “vampirey” elements: an old church and a couple of cemeteries.

The overall design for the region suggests it might be designed to fit the 19th century, the classic era of the vampire tale. However, take a peek behind the castle-bearing promontory and you’ll find a very modern stage area and dance floor.

A lot of vampire-themed regions are focused on role-play. Gehena Vampire Clan, however, is first and foremost a home – as the About Land floater states. I don’t think any of the farmhouses on the ground are used as homes – I get the impression clan members actually live overhead – but just in case they are, please be aware you might be approaching a private home when admiring them.

One of the things that attracted me to this region is that it is hard to escape the feeling that there are tales to be told here. The castle standing high overhead, the fires lit in the hearths as if to ward-off the coming night, the ship standing-to offshore, the church yard and cemeteries; they all encourage the imagination to take flight and weave stories about this mysterious realm and the people who live here. In fact I was very tempted to write this piece in the form of a short vignette.

Pictorially, there are stories to be told here as well. It really is one of the most photogenic regions I’ve visited. There is scarcely an angle or a camera position which doesn’t offer itself up as an opportunity for the framing of a good snap.

I opted to keep to a windlight setting which (to me) matched the theme of the region, using the Bristol setting with a few minor tweaks to try to evoke the latter part of the day, and to provide a what I hope is a slightly brooding air in keeping with the theme of the region. However, it’s worthwhile experimenting with settings, as the region really does lend itself to a variety of lighting conditions, as I hope the last of the pictures on this page shows :).

If you’ve not dropped-in on the region before, I would suggest you add it to your list of places to visit; the clan are very visitor-friendly and do not intrude unless the region guidelines are being broken. You’ll certainly find it worth your while to take time out to visit, whether or not you’re into vampires and bats. It really is that good. Oh, and make sure you have sound on should you visit.

Related Links

• Gehena Vampire Clan SLurl (Rated: Moderate)
• SL Destinations in this blog

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The Grove Country Club Estates is an upmarket residential estate in SL covering (at the time of writing) some ten regions which have all been painstakingly landscaped and which mix residential parcels with parks, roads and waterways. To the north of the estate is Patch Thibaud’s clifftop house of Majesterium, which is also open to the public.

As a residential estate, this is not my usual choice for a destination review per se, and this article isn’t intended to be such. However, I have to admit I do find the estate attractive and do like to occasionally walk the parks and wander along the roads, always taking care to observe the privacy of the residents (you can actually hire a bicycle from the welcome area when visiting).

One part of the estate to which I’m particularly drawn in Casablanca Bay South. Mostly water, this region has a hook-like sandy prominence jutting out into the sea, upon which sits the most attractive tapas and wine bar I’ve come across in SL.

If I’m honest, I’m not actually a great one for the idea of dining in any form in SL, and none of my homes in-world have every had a kitchen or dining area. However, as a means of providing a social venus where friends (and strangers) can meet and sit and chat, restaurants in SL offer perhaps a preferable venue to pitching-up at a club, etc. In fact, I met one of my longest-known in-world acquaintances at a restaurant, many years ago, and I can still remember simply sitting and chatting with him to the point where the wee small hours of the morning were fast on their way towards growing up…

Del Vino, designed by Coralie Bilasimo has a certain chic and a Mediterranean charm about it which makes it and instant delight – and probably a place that, where it to exist in real life, I’d be dining at quite regularly (and my waistline resenting me even more as a result…).

The Mediterranean touch is not by accident; the entire estate is intended to evoke a Mediterranean feel, and incorporates both Tuscan and Andalusian elements, and as one of the community’s builders, Coralie has had a hand in shaping the overall theme and bringing it to the fore through works such as del Vino.

Downstairs is a vaulted room offering party dining space around a simple wooden table, while upstairs is a more intimate dining area, with smaller tables for up to four and a banquet table out on the verandah overlooking the beach. The interior design is by Emery Milneaux, one of the estate’s co-owners, and fits the style and design of the building perfectly.

This is an exquisite build, where charm, chic, landscaping and an eye for detail and interior design come together to produce a truly memorable location within SL. I’m also pretty sure it’s one the images here do less than justice. If you are into SL building design and architecture – or simply want a marvellous place to meet with a friend or two and sit and chat, del Vino is absolutely worth the visit. And for those with a romantic bent, why not take a stroll along the beach afterwards, or perhaps along the jetties of the marina just to the north?

Related Links

• del Vino / Casablanca Bay South (Rated: Moderate)
• SL Destinations in this blog

(view slideshow full-screen)