Category: Reviews

Vally (Valium lavender) sent me a personal invitation to visit the latest region design she and Dandy Warhlol (terry Fotherington) have put together. Once again, things being what they are, it took me a while to get to a point where I could visit – apologies to Vally –  but I did finally manage to do so!

Occupying a Homestead region, Sojourn – Sojourn Spring is a ruggedly handsome setting, a hump of rocky and grassy land rising from a calm sea. The western side of its back largely flat and with a single, gently-sloping incline running down to the west coast with its narrow ribbon of sand and moorings for boats pointing their fingers out to sea.

To the east, the back of the island is more elevated, exposed rock seeming to shore up the land above as it forms another plateau of grassland.

Where it the world you might like to put this setting is up to you. The trees suggest somewhere in a northern temperate zone – which would be in keeping with most of the builds  Dandy has put together down the years, many of which I’ve had the pleasure to write about. Similarly, the buildings on the island suggest more northerly / temperate climates, but where you prefer to picture this island as being is up to your imagination.

Escape into a breath-taking spring landscape perfect for unwinding and capturing stunning photos. Frame your shots with gentle flowing streams, vibrant wildflowers, and charming wildlife as your backdrop. Region Windlight settings shine here for that magic.

– Sojourn Spring About Land description

This is an occupied island – a house formed out of the split, inverted hull of an old ship sits up on the highest plateau, whilst a couple of single-room cabins lie on the lower expanse of the island’s top, together with what appears to be a long-deserted old stone cottage.

A lighthouse points towards the sky from a blunt promontory in the south-west corner of the setting, standing proudly above the western strand of beach running alongside the boat moorings and a second, slightly deeper beach on the southern side of the isle.

The old cottage, tucked into the north-west corner of the island, forms the setting’s Landing Point and offers a grand view inland over the island, a view which immediately draws one into wanting to explore.

Were I to paint a possible back-story to the setting, I would guess that the “house boat” up on the higher part of the island is home to whoever keeps the lighthouse, perhaps together with their family. As well as maintaining the lighthouse, these folk would appear to have turned the island into something of a little homestead for raising horses whilst also keeping chickens for eggs and bees for honey, even though, giving the pizza box in evidence at the house, this place must not be too removed from all the conveniences of mainland.

Wind turbines share the landscape with the local trees, presumably providing all the power needed for the house, lighthouse and cabins – and perhaps elsewhere as well. Who might use the cabins (both of which are actually unfurnished inside) is anyone’s guess, but the multiple moorings and the presence of a little café overlooking them and close to the lighthouse suggests the island has its share of at least day-trippers – and maybe folk who want to make a weekend of it by using the cabins as places to sleep.

To this end, there are multiple look-out points and places to sit on the island – including a VW camper van some enterprising soul has brought to the setting, where it now (permanently?) sits on a narrow self of land on the east side of the island between parallel cliffs.

These look-out and sitting places encourage people to spend time on the island doing what the About Land description suggests: making an escape and simply unwinding; allow the beauty of the setting, its flora, fauna and birds to carry them away from the worries and concerns of life.

In this, the island is absolutely perfect, the details are highly photogenic and offer a lot to see and give life to the setting. I particularly like the way water has been used, from broad ponds upon which rowing boats sit to the tumbling of falls to the sea below and the meanderings and tumblings of genuine brooks – so rarely seen when streams and rivers seem to be far more popular.  No wonder the island is a popular stopping-off point for egrets as they commute back and forth with the changing of the seasons.

All of this makes Sojourn Spring a visual delight to see and an engaging place to explore. Highly recommended.

SLurl Details

Sojourn Spring (Sojourn, rated Moderate)

As I work to catch up on a backlog of invitations, I pulled up one from Myrdin Sommer, inviting me to visit his Full region build of Planet M – Tula.

The invite actually came in mid-February with a note that it would likely only be around “for a few more weeks”. This being the case, my apologies to Myrdin for not having been able to visit sooner, and my hopes that this article finds its way to readers with sufficient time for them to visit the build before it vanishes.

Planet M’s Tula is a surreal red-earth valley shaped by organic forms, roaming animals, and a ceramic studio at its heart. Tula invites visitors to wander, pause, and look — offering a calm, dreamlike environment with Room to Dream, and perhaps make a picture or two. Tula welcomes you with open arms.

– A description of Planet M – Tula

As might be gleaned from the description above, this is a strange, alien environment – albeit with many touches of Earthly familiarity. The undulating landscape is marked by strange tubular-like extrusions and rising tendrils of clay ground, some of which are bent and bulb-headed, almost as if they are organic in nature whilst others end in lightbulb forms that provide local illumination together with some of the horizonal tubulars extending outwards from hillsides. In addition, flat-topped, mushroom-like islands rise on stout stalks to provide raised platforms, and honeycombed humps provide another form of illumination for their surroundings.

Amidst all of this water flows and pools and animals from Earth graze and roam: horses, cows, elephants, cats, birds, goats – even a couple of sauropods. Some of these can be found on the ground, others keep themselves to the island-like  tops of the “mushroom” islands.

Also waiting to be found are signs of human habitation. These are located in several of the caves found below the hills (and one of which sits behind a curtain, so to speak!). These are both primitive in form let cosy in nature, with human seating, furniture and so on. One of these is also the home to an artist’s studio.

The Landing Point sits towards the middle of the region, watched over by flamingos, a nearby signpost pointing the way to various attractions. These include the Octopit (find out for yourself!), and a memorial to director David Lynch. Note that the Landing Point is on a small island of its own, but the waters surrounding it are shallow enough to wade through.

Getting around the ground level is easy enough. However, exploring the “floating” islands without resorting to flying up to them is a matter of finding the rope ladder to the first and then using the interconnecting bridges and rope ladders to work your way around the rest.  Exploration of these will also allow you a view of  a group of dogs happily gathered on a white cloud complete with its own waterfall and a rope ladder to climb up to it.

With Earthly trees, grasses and lily pads making up the majority of the setting’s flora, Planet M – Tula is, as its description states, a surreal place, complete with a Moon floating just off the ground between two horns of rock, and a series of tiny floating “suns” to add to the illumination. It is also engaging in design and discovering all there is to see does cause you to travel its length and breadth, while the habitation spaces in the caves present places to rest awhile.

In all, an interesting visit with a fair amount to see and do. My apologies again to Myrdin for taking a while to make a visit.

SLurl Details

• Planet M – Tula (Planet M, rated Moderate)