Category: Exploring Second Life

It was off back to the Full private region held by Dianna Fluffington for me recently, and a visit to her creation of Blue Finch Blossoms Hollow.

This actually marked my third time at the region in the past 12 months, having previously visited in April 2023 and again in November of that year (see: A Blue Finch Spring in Second Life and A Blue Finch Frosty Hollow in Second Life). However, both of those iterations of the region design were collaborative works between Dianna and her former partner Grant Wade (GMi7); so the occasion of this visit marked my first time to an iteration of the region that is solely Dianna’s design – and it remains as eye-catching and photogenic as ever.

As with the two past iterations of the region, this version for Spring 2024 offers a pleasing mix of themes and influences. The subtle touches of fantasy (such as via the elven-like lanterns lighting the many paths through the setting) are present, there is much to appreciate in terms of natural flora and fauna, superb use is made of landscaping elements to give the setting a unique, rugged look and beauty which is softened through the use of grasses, trees, water, shrubs and paths.

Whilst not strictly enforced, the landing point sits to the east of the region, tucked quietly between the north-east and south-east quadrants and within the single paved street of a small gathering of places of businesses, all neatly framed by a mix of walls and water channels, flowerbeds and trees. Within the area, the little shops are open to visitors, whilst outdoor spaces offer plenty of space for sitting down and passing the time.

It is here as well, towards the southern end of the street, that visitors can find information on the region and its in-world Group, an invitation to hop up to a sky platform to visit an art exhibition by Cammie Carver and hosted by The Wanderers Relay for Life team (all donations, etc., to RFL of SL via the team), and directions to a horse rezzer where visitors can take a tour of the region on horseback. Unfortunately, the rezzer refused to work for me, so I’m unable to mention the nature or extent of the tour.

For those opting to explore on foot, there are a variety of paths leading away from the landing point and the little hamlet of shops and on through the region. So many in fact, that I’m not going to even attempt to chart a route for you to follow from here; the best thing to do is just step through the gates or over the little bridges from the town space and start wandering – whichever way you go, you will be richly rewarded with things to see and do.

In terms of the latter, as well as the horse ride, the immediate surrounding to the town offer mini golf to one side and on the other, on the shores of the central lake, the opportunity to rez one or more (if you are in a group) inflatable tubes. These will whisk you around the waterways (at a pretty brisk pace!), complete with your personal supply of beer / drinks. There are also zip lines awaiting discovery and use by the adventurous.

One of the latter sits between a elevated events area tucked into the north-west corner of the setting, on a terrace covering a table hill. Given the other path up to this region is long and winding (but well worth the effort of finding and following given it does take one on a tour of a good part of the region and offers so excellent views from some of the higher aspects of the landscape), this zip line offers a quick and easy ride back down to the lower-lying elements of the setting for those who do not wish to retrace steps.

But to return to the tube ride: this deposits riders in the shallows of a cove directly below the events terrace noted above, which is home to one of two stretches of beach making up the setting. A rocky arch from here provides the means to return of the region’s grasslands and gardens. Once through the arch, it is possible to spot another of the region’s zip lines and also appreciate another touch of the fantasy elements found throughout, this one in the form of ruins and a quiet swing waiting for romantics.

Places to sit can also be found through the region – from converted rowing boats through decks built out over the waters, parasoled tables on terraces and squares or rafts on the water, through to the region’s little cafés and bars or the open-air cinema (complete with offerings of pizza and buckets of nibbles.

Blue Finch Blossoms Hollow is one of those places where just as you convince yourself you’ve seen everything there is, something else pops up in the form of an unexpected turn of a path or a hither-to unseen passage between trees or under rocky heights, and so brings you to something else to enjoy.

Such a discovery might be a little vignette of animals or a place to sit, a romantic corner, the unexpected sight of water flowing upslope (such is the magic of the region!) or another such unexpected view. As such, it is genuinely a place where the more time taken in exploring, the greater the rewards to be reaped.

Those seeking an immersive location bringing together assorted themes and ideas and which offer huge scope for photography, relaxing, having a little fun or romantic interlude – or indeed, a combination of all of these  –  will undoubtedly find Blue Finch Blossoms Hollow an ideal destination in their Second Life travels.

SLurl Details

• Blue Finch Blossoms Hollow (Pottery Hollow, rated Moderate)

Update, July 2025: Venus by the Water has closed.

Elizabeth (ElizabethNantes) and Cecilia Nansen are two women in Second Life noted for their creativity. Elizabeth is a creator who has produced multiple popular region designs over the years, several of which I’ve previously featured in these pages since around 2016 – the last time being her excellent Hear How Your Landscape Should Sound, produced in collaboration with Electric Monday (see here for more).

Celia Nansen is one of Second Life’s premier photographers noted for producing evocative and narratively rich avatar studies, someone whom I’ve again often featured in these pages since the unveiling of her very first exhibition in-world back in 2017 (see here for more).

In March, Elizabeth and Cecilia opened a collaboration of their own to Second Life users, one that brings together region design, art and music in a beautifully considered and executed Homestead region they have called Venus by the Water. Fittingly, given the region is the product of two in-world creative talents, Venus by the Water is also offered as a tribute to two exceptional talents from the physical world: Bjork and Polly Jean Harvey (more professionally known as PJ Harvey).

This is an idyllic setting, presented as a low, temperate island which the surrounding waters are in the process of breaking up. Already they have eroded the narrow neck of sand that once linked the two halves into a whole so that a broad wooden deck is now required to maintain the connection between the two segments of land. This deck is set as the region’s landing point, and is home to a tip jar and local Group joiner. From it, visitors can take their pick as to which half of the setting they choose to explore first.

The larger area of land, forming a W-shape which extends from a narrow tail pointing eastwards along the southern side of the region, through to a rocky headland lying to the north-west, is largely sandy in nature, although the west side is home to lush grass and a small woodland area where horses might be found grazing. A stream cuts right through this land, separating the north-eastern most part of it off from the rest, shingle beaches to the north and west bracketing its grassland, the stream doing the same to the south and east.

Tucked into the south-western corner of this landscape, between the woodlands to the north and the sands to the east, sits the Gallery Bjork. At the time of my visit, the 2D work on display came from artists responding to a call from Cecelia and Elizabeth for submission of art on the theme of Venus on the Water (hence the décor within the Gallery space with a tide gently lapping over coastal reeds and grass).

Outside, on the rear terrace might be found a sculpture by Mistero Hifeng keeps a quiet eye on things, whilst the front room of the gallery presents an image of PJ Harvey and Bjork from an interview published in (I think) 1993 or 1994, and which also featured American artist Tori Amos. Rendered in monochrome, the photo faces two reflections of its form, each featuring Elizabeth and Cecilia.

The smaller land mass for the setting sits to the north-east, cupped between the arms of the W. It presents a rugged by lushly flowered grassland bordered by trees, an earthen path cutting through it from the landing point to where the Café Polly sits atop an extensive deck reaching out over the waters. Broadly split into two indoor seating areas bracing the central service area, the café additionally offers outdoor seating under parasols for those who prefer, either on the deck itself, or on a smaller deck a very short walk from the café’s door, overlooking the bay that cuts deeply into the land.

This is a peaceful location, although the aged and bent tree that seems to be trying to stretch its branches toward the café and touch it, together with the corpse of another tree angling itself sharply over the path leading to (or from, depending on your point of view) the café, suggests the island has seen its share of strong winds and harsh weather. Even so, there is nothing now to interrupt the gentle rocking on the rowing boats tied-up at the pier just below the café’s deck.

These rowing boats, rocking gently in the swell as it approaches the shore, are just one of the details that further bring this setting to life. There are many more to be found throughout which both give depth to the region and often offer encouragement for people to stay and enjoy their time here.

For example, There’s a little camp site out on the sand of the south-east headland and watched over (in a manner of speaking) by the sheep grazing on the stunted grass close by. Then, almost mid-way between the landing point and the Café Polly, the path offers a short branch leading to a raised deck. This is home to a pair of loungers looking out over this bay cutting so deeply into the land. In doing so, they draw attention to another rowing boat, this one anchored out in the sheltered waters to offer another place to sit and past the time, either alone or with someone close to you. Still more such tranquil places await discovery – but I’ll let you find them on your visit 🙂 .

Venus by the Water is finished in an EEP setting which compliments it perfectly, and thus really is best seen under it. The region also fears a very subtle and fitting sound scape, so I recommend having local sounds active when visiting as well. The audio stream for the region has also been carefully curated, and features at times an interesting mash-up or two between Bjork and PJ Harvey, and well as some of their own recordings.

All told, a perfectly presented and relaxing setting – as one would expect from two creative talents like Cecilia and Elizabeth.

SLurl Details

• Venus by the Water (Golden Island, rated Adult)

Still and In Stillness sit as a pair of Second Life regions (one a Full private region leveraging the available Land Capacity bonus, and the other an adjoining Homestead region) held and designed by Matchbook Monday. Together, they more than live up to their About Land description – a place to still the mind and relax.

The two regions are presented as a temperate archipelago sitting – going by the region surrounds – just off the coast. In terms of which coast, I’d guess that by the lie of the land and Matchbook’s own origins together with the abundance of Canadian flags, either the east or west coast of that nation; say, somewhere along the British Columbia coastline or maybe somewhere within the gulf of St. Lawrence.

Although that said, it could just as easily be imaginatively set within somewhere like Lake Winnipeg (and even then, a boathouse in the setting displays a map of America’s Cape Cod, further making the setting a fascinating mix of potential influences!).

But wherever it might be placed, if one were inclined to try to pin it down as a place of the imagination with a physical world foundation, there is no doubting the natural beauty of the setting. The Full region comprises three islands, two of which are quite large, the northernmost of which is home to the main landing point. heavily wooded, the island sports a small cluster of waterfront businesses at its western end.

A broad walk passes around the northern side of the island to reach a small marina, sitting almost opposite a motel sitting alongside a quay on the island’s southern side. To one side of the motel, and rather incongruously given the wild nature of the landscape and setting as a whole, there is a parking lot hosting a couple of saloon cars – not that they really have anywhere to drive easily. It is perhaps the one eccentricity within the entire estate, and offers something of a little visual twist.

The eastern end of the island is home to a campsite dotted with caravans which appear to be available for rent. This end of the island also offers views across a narrow strait of water to its southern neighbour, which almost matches it for size. However, the easiest way to reach this island is via the bridges which connect all three islands. Both the second large island as the smaller isle making up the trio are similar inasmuch as they both share the same landscaping as the first – unsurprisingly, given this is an archipelago –  and they are both home to small collections of rental cabins.

This latter point does not mean either island is off-limits to exploration; there are paths and trails running through both which are open to wandering. Rather, it simply means that visitors should be aware that the cabins, like the caravans mentioned above may be occupied and deserving of privacy.

That both islands might be explored can be seen in the provision of the two jet ski rezzers available – one per island. Open to public use, these allow visitors to scoot around all of the islands in the group – particularly those scattered across the Homestead region, viewing them from the water.

Throughout all of the main islands are multiple places to sit and pass the time – camp sites, decks, outdoor eating and drinking places. Those with keen eye might also spot places to fish and also bicycle rezzers for a little fun in exploring the main islands. These all give the setting an increased since of space, joining with the selected EEP settings and landscaping to add to the ambience of the regions – something further enhanced by the moody set of the misty waters around the islands.

Rounded-out by an ambient soundscape and with birds wheeling overhead, the two regions of Still and In Stillness (which have been given the names In Stillness and Still the Mind by Matchbook), are beautiful designed and implemented, offering a lot to appreciate and explore, and plenty to do. And needless to say, the setting is highly photogenic.

SLurl Details

• Still (rated Moderate)

Jim Garand never fails to intrigue / please with his periodic re-designs of Grauland, his Homestead region. Since 2019 he has consistently offered environments for people to visit which have mixed themes and ideas in multiple ways – landscapes, art, architecture, history, mystery, science fiction, and so on.

As such, it is always a pleasure to drop in and witness what he has most recently created for people to enjoy. And for me, this is particularly true of the April 2024 edition of the region, which he has called Grauland – Last Trees, as it reminds me of one of my favourite – and potentially one of the most underrated classics of of the genre – science-fiction film, Silent Running.

The region does this in two ways. The first is that – like the film – it appears to offer a commentary on the environment and the damage being done to it by the human species. In this, the setting also perhaps echoes Waterworld, given it appears to be a lone outpost rising from an unending sea; but I’m sticking with Silent Running simply because of the two great biodomes sitting to the north and south of the outpost. If you’re familiar with the film, then it’s hard not to see these two massive geodesic structures of glass and steel and not think of Valley Forge and the precious cargo she and her sister ships carried in the home of one day replanting Earth.

Here, however, the domes do not protect woodlands or the fields of plants and all the insects and smaller animals vital to a healthy biosphere as seen in the film. Instead, each dome is home to a single giant oak rising from a sea of grass and spreading their boughs in defiance of the glowering sky outside of the gentle lights (and warmth, perhaps?) of the domes. But as with Silent Running, it would appear that this outpost, anchored to the bed of the shallow surrounding sea, is dedicated to the preservation of these two great trees and also to the renewal of plant-life to some degree, given the hydroponics farm located in the lower level of one of the great domes.

Whilst not out in the void of space near Saturn, Grauland’s outpost is crewed by people clearly trying to make the best of things – as were the crew of the Valley Forge. Part of the station is devoted to living quarters offering creature comforts and sitting over floating docks where jet skis and RHIBs are available for recreational enjoyment on the water (and yes, you can ride the jet skis), while lidos and floats bob on the water, suggesting swimming is also to be had. In this, the jet skis – for me – offered a further indirect link to the film, standing-in for the four-wheeled buggies Freeman Lowell and his colleagues used to let off steam as they raced around their cargo ship.

Sadly, Huey, Dewey and Louie are absent from Jim’s design – probably because the similarity to Silent Running is entirely of my own making -, but there are three android-like heads and upper bodies awaiting discovery instead. Quite what their purpose might be is for anyone visiting to guess. Perhaps, within their I, Robot-ish looks, they are the brains monitoring the station. You decide.

A series of landing pads, four of them occupied by hopper shuttles, suggest that flight is required to get to the station from elsewhere (wherever that might be), with two of the craft apparently for rescue / evacuation use. However, given a wheeled amphibious truck is hauling itself out of the water onto an elevator platform, there is also the suggestion that land of some kind might not actually be too far away.

If land is relatively close by, then the question must be asked what has happened to require a station such as this, dedicated as it seems to be, to the preservation of the two great oak trees and the growing of new plants (or trees)? Indeed, is this base actually on Earth at all – or are we perhaps somewhere else in the cosmos, a place sufficiently like Earth so as to support Earth-based animal (i.e. human) and plant life? In all of this Jim offers no clues, instead leaving the door of the imagination wide open to allow us to formulate our own ideas and stories about this place.

What is clear is that while the waters here might be shallow, they would appear to be wracked at times by storms of a sufficient enough violence to warrant sitting the majority of the base atop massive girder-like legs, presumably to lift the buildings, landing pads and so out wall out of the reach of ravaging waves and spray. It’s also clear that there is much to explore here as well – stairwells climb between levels, catwalks, ramps and gantries connect different areas, elevators offer ease of access to the water up to higher sections of the outpost for those who don’t fancy counting steps, and the crew quarters offer their own curiosities.

All told, another expressive and imaginative build by Jim, and one well worth visiting and exploring.

SLurl Details

• Grauland (Liberia Isle, rated Adult)

It  had not been my intention to write about two locations designed by Yxes (Yxes Evergreen) practically back-to-back; however serendipity played a hand when, after writing about Memories of Dreams (see here for more), I was bimbling around south-western Heterocera (specifically along Mock Heather Road and trying to work out if it was part of the atoll continent’s Route 2 or not) when I stumbled across a place called Morrigan’s Roadhouse.

Or rather, I initially came across the unmistakable form of the TLG Ruined Gate by Marcus Inkpen, standing alongside one of Elicio Ember’s marvellous plants and with the . a i s l i n g . Old Fountain sitting under it. Given all three are creators / brands I tend to use myself, I was immediately intrigued, and with the large house sitting above the ruined gate teasing me further, I decided to poke my nose at what I had found, and only after flycaming and discovering more of interest – notably in more of Marcus’s architecture and Elicio’s plants – did I take a look to see who was responsible for this most enchanted of settings, and thus discovered it to be the work of Yxes.

Sitting to the north side of Mock Heather Road and within just under 20,000 square metres of land, Morrigan’s Roadhouse is a place of gentle contradictions natural delights, touches of fantasy and (to me at least) spirituality (in a pagan sense), and infinite charm. The About Land description suggests the setting may have been influenced by what might be the most instantly recognisable (and misinterpreted) of all of the recordings by the Eagles: Hotel California, quoting as it does the sixth verse of the song.

It’s a verse that is somewhat reflected in the mysterious lean of the setting – the big house sitting as they crown of the landscape (inasmuch as it rises above everything else) might be seen as a place every bit as strange and mysterious as the hotel of the son, whilst the roadhouse of the setting’s title might bring to mind the idea of an edge-of town inn or coaching house where accommodation, alcohol and perhaps dancing might be had; again somewhat in keeping with elements of the song.

Similarly, there is much within the song – and the quoted verse that might be applied to Second Life and those of us who have been engaged with the platform for a long time – do we ever really leave? Whilst the platform itself might be said to be programmed to receive.

But then there is the name of the setting itself, which carries one away from the poetry of (relatively) modern song and lyrical juxtapositions of meanings real and imagined, and into the realm of Irish / Celtic mythology in the form of The Morrigan, the Phantom Queen, most often associated with war and fate, and said to be able to take the form of a crow. Indeed, within the setting, the ruins of a chapel (again the work of Marcus Inkpen) offer a shrine and prayers to the Morrigan, further strengthening this connection.

Nor are these two thematic elements in opposition to one another; just as there has been much debate and speculations about the meaning behind the lyrics of Hotel California, so the Morrigan can be interpreted in different ways. she is seen as both an individual in the form of the Red or Phantom Queen, and also a triumvirate, as both a threefold goddess and also as the Morrigu, three sisters of united heritage cause. Thus, both the reference to the song and to the pagan figure, lend an air of mysticism combined with fantasy and dream to the setting, well in keeping with its unique and engaging presentation.

Which is undeniable about Morrigan’s Roadhouse is the sense of enchantment and the fantastical found throughout, be it in the will-o’-the-wisp-like blankets of mist drifting here and there between the trees and over the waters, or the exotic plants and giant mushrooms awaiting discovery, or the unicorn and albino stag watching over the landscape, or the simple presence of boats floating serenely in the air. There is a charm and sense of magic to be found within the buildings (and under them in the case of the main house), whilst the motifs of familiars (cats and ravens) might be found in multiple places throughout.

That said, this is a place where flycamming is perhaps more advantageous in seeing all that is on offer when compared to walking around. There are elements of the setting not entirely conducive to wandering on foot, and while this may make finding them a little harder, the fact that the landscape does hold somewhat inaccessible corners is entirely in keeping with Nature herself in rarely offering us a simple footpath or trail to follow.

Engaging, photogenic, peaceful and definitely with more than enough in possible motifs, themes and meanings to get the brain cogitating on all of its cylinders (a mere four in my case, admittedly!), Morrigan’s Roadhouse makes for a very worthwhile place to visit.

SLurl Details

• Morrigan’s Roadhouse (Tethea, rated Moderate)