Category: Reviews

For those in the northern hemisphere who want to grab a last touch of the late summer before winter throws its chilly cloak over us, should consider hopping over to Perpetuity, the Full region held and designed by Camis and Tamara Sierota. For while the leaves there are turning golden brown for autumn, there is still a sense of summer warmth waiting to be found for a little while longer.

The last time I visited the region in April 2022, it offered the look and feel of Smalltown USA in the spring / early summer months, so a return to the region as the years starts to close out is perhaps appropriate. However, a greater reason for dropping in again is that the region, in keeping with the tradition Camis and Tamara have for presenting different settings for the appreciation of visitors, now appears to have its roots in southern Europe, with hints of Italy’s Tuscany and France’s Provence to be found nestling among its trees and overlooking its rugged shores.

A place for quiet moments and photography with areas to bring your partner or to come alone and relax surrounded by nature in all it’s beauty. Join the group to rez & support the sim.

– Perpetuity’s About Land Description

The first hint of this European styling comes at the landing point, tucked into the north-west corner of the region. Here visitors find themselves on the lower terrace of a distinctly Greco-Roman ruin, the upper portion of which stands as the remnants of an open-air baths, the water still fresh and inviting and overlooked by the weathered statues of gods or perhaps former patrons of whatever estate may have once stood within the lands south and east.

Suggestions that this was once an extensive estate are quick to locate: a broad cobbled road runs due east to where a walled villa and its outhouses sit before and a little above a broad expanse of beach. Rows of vines stand to attention on either side of this road, hinting that grapes and wine might have long been a part of the history here; and while the villa and its outhouses – like the tall clock tower close by – are clearly of far more recent times than the baths, the exposed stonework on the villa’s walls does suggest it has perhaps just material from a much older structure which may once have stood here.

The clock tower stands between two further roads that both run due south. The first dips down the undulating land to reach another Tuscan-style villa,  this one sitting on a broad paved terrace fronting the sea, a single outhouse converted into a cosy and inviting café. Where the road to this villa descends, the second road alongside the clock tower rises, hopping up a gentle slope to pass under trees and between bushes and hedges to reach a further junction, one arm of which point eastwards once more, and the second curves left and right to reach the arms of an imposing Provencial summer house.

Built from great squared-off blocks of stone, this imposing build appears to be a club or resort of some description; its three buildings sitting on three sides of a terraced pool. The largest of these buildings forms the main part of the facilities, offering a central pubic room with two small rooms bracketing it. All are open to the public, as are to the smaller buildings flanking the pool, and the pool itself.

Away to the east, the remaining arm of the road is carried over a stream by a little bridge, itself just a short walk from where it falls down the face of sheer cliffs into a bay tucked between two headlands. The smaller and lower of the latter forms a part of the resort grounds, and offers a look-out point separating the bay from the resort’s span of beach. Meanwhile, the taller of the two headlands is home to a farmhouse which appears to have been converted into more of a vacation property, the road to it running past the head of another waterfall that feeds the bay below.

As well as the cobbled roads, tracks also run through the landscape, offering further opportunities for exploration, whilst the furnished nature of all the buildings, together with the fact that they are all open to the public, provide many opportunities to sit and pass the time, particularly with a loved one / partner. For those who prefer, there are also numerous outdoor locates scattered across the region offering places to sit.

There are some rules to take note of when visiting Perpetuity – nothing onerous, just make sure you accept the offered note card on arrival -, and those requiring photo props can gain rezzing rights by joining the local Group. The note card also references bike and horse rezzers, but I have to say, I didn’t notice either in my wanderings and camming so I’m not sure it these were from a previous iteration of the region or I simply missed them; either way, it doesn’t change the fact Perpetuity remains an engaging visit.

With thanks to Shawn Shakespeare for the suggestion of a re-visit.

SLurl Details

• Perpetuity (Envylicious, rated Adult)

Lam Erin has redressed his Cherishville for the autumn, prompting me to hop over and have a wander before winter edges its way into the the setting.

As with the spring iteration of the region (see: Cherishville’s 2022 Spring in Second Life), the autumn design is decidedly rural in intent, the landscape rich with trees, winding single-track roads and a scattering of buildings. However, rather than carrying the promise of warmer days, sunshine and clear skies, this autumnal Cherishville offers a foreshadowing of colder, harder weather to come.  Caught under a lowering sky from which rain steadily falls, it sits surrounding by mountains painted in snow which seems to be slowly making its way down their rocky faces, ready to creep across the region as winter throws her cold cloak over the land.

Also given the time of year, the setting in places seems to hold a sense of ghostly desertion or foreboding about it.  For example, the little arc of houses and shops huddled around the loop of road to the west of the landing point have perhaps seen better days, with the detritus of life in places piled into yards as if forgotten, whilst pigs and geese wander unattended, other than by a Saint Bernard who seems more interested in watching the road than keeping his charges in place – if indeed that is his purpose.

That said, the interiors of the houses offer a complete contrast, being warm and inviting; whilst the pub clearly has a welcome for all. So perhaps its just the lowering weather and the local apothecary which give rise to the odd sense of October menace lying about the land; something falsely added to by the arc of buildings all facing the one direction across the narrow road, as if huddled together in expectation of something rising from the waters of the inlet that sits just beyond the trees and downslope from the road.

It is on the stony shore of this inlet that the region’s landing point resides, presenting a pleasant view across the finger of water that belies any reason for the houses above to the so huddled. On the far bank sits an old boat shack somewhat dilapidated in appearance, but still sturdy enough to hold up a large rowing boat on the davits extending from the water side of its aging form.

A smaller cabin sits close by the landing point, this one raised on stilts which suggest the inlet might be tidal in nature. If so, this would explain why the boat raised against the side of the far shack appears to have rocks waiting to receive it should it be lowered, rather than lapping water – at least until the tide returns. Just behind the little stilt cabin a path climbs the slope away from the inlet and up to where the road commences its loop past the little hamlet.

Eastward along the meandering road lay and old railway station sat at the end of the single track line. It appears to be oddly cut-off from both hamlet and road, almost as if it wants nothing to do with them, thus bringing forth more thoughts that this might be a place where there is more going on than meets the eye.

This feeling is further added to as the road dips southward, passing a deserted house of some size and with a tall tower that appears to look menacingly down on those passing by. After this, the road hooks its way around old and gnarled trees to reach the grounds of a house suggesting shades of the one that stood above the Bates Motel. However, a glimpse inside will reveal that, unlike the house it resembles, this one isn’t hiding a dark secret – but is a comely family home.

There are one or two little niggles within the setting – the humpbacked bridge sitting at the mouth of the inlet looks to have been plonked into place without regard for natural foundations under it, for example, and the tunnel into which the railway track vanished could perhaps do with a darkened backing block to hide the hill slope within it. however, these can mostly be ignored by eye and camera and the rest of the setting appreciated for its ability to offer a rainy autumnal setting with a lot of opportunities or photography.

SLurl Details

• Cherishvile Autumn (Photos, rated Moderate)