Category: Reviews

Designed by Sloomi, South Shore Bay  on the Homestead region of Malaekahana Island, is presented as a place with a touch of a Mediterranean summer about it. A mix of public spaces and four private residences (three of which – I think – might be available to rent), it is a simple, easy-on the eye place with much to offer.

Built around a central lake, the island has a slight lagoon feel to it, the land opening out to the north and south to form rounded, low-lying headlands. Three of these have houses built on them, one of which id definitely private, the other two being two of the possible rentals. The remaining headland, occupying the south-west corner. The track connecting this beach with the path circling the lake also forming the region’s landing point.

With a mix of Joshua and palm trees, the beach offers plenty of parasol-shaded places to sit and admire the sea view, the path leading to it also home to a small open market. Should you get peckish when visiting, a bar sits at the northern end of the sweep of the sand, with fresh fish and chips on offer.

Take the lake path eastwards, and it will take you along a narrow waist of low land caught between the gentle sweep of a seaward bay and the flat-topped hump of a hill that is home to the remaining summer house on the island. In terms of location, this perhaps offers the best views, one out across the bay to the off-region island, the other inland over the region’s lake. This lake appears somewhat tidal: there is a narrow channel to the west that connects it to the sea, and the sands just above the current water line appear to have a high tide mark running around them, as if the water level can periodically increase.

To the east, the island has a rich screen of trees through which the footpath passes. By no means dense, the trees are sufficient enough to screen one of the beach houses from the path, whilst also perhaps sheltering the lake from any eastern winds, as well as holding the sands along the top of the hill in place.

After passing through the trees, the path swings closer to the lake than the sea, providing space for another much smaller beach on its seaward side, complete with a cuddle space on an old rowing boat before a further copse of trees serves to screen the south-east house from the rest of the island and provide any occupants with some privacy.

A further bay sits on the north end of the island, nestled between the two headlands there. A little more rugged in nature than the southern bay, this is home to a colony of seagulls, while for those who don’t fancy walking, a balloon with single pose swing slung under it circles  slowly overhead.

An easy-going, comfortable design with multiple places to sit and finished with a gentle sound scape, South Shore Bay presents exactly what it says in the About Land description states: a quiet place to relax.

SLurl Details

• South Shore Bay (Malaekahana Island, rated Moderate)

Having recently opened in May 2020, Kintsugi: Spirited Beyond has been garnering a lot of attention – and rightly so; it is a place of serene beauty, lovingly created by NorahBrent and Zalindah.

Kintsugi (金継ぎ, “golden joinery”), also known as Kintsukuroi (金繕い, “golden repair”), is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum, a method similar to the maki-etechnique. As a philosophy, it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise.

– Wikipedia

I include this description, because Kintsugi: Spirited Beyond grew out of a personal loss experienced by NorahBrent, as Zalinah notes in her profile:

Pulling her grief and transforming it into creativity was her only way of coping. She asked me to join her and I couldn’t resist.

– Zalinah

So it might be said that Kintsugi: Spirited Beyond that has a deep connection for both NorahBrent and Zalinah, and especially offers a means for Norah to mend her loss through creativity, making it a part of her personal expression, making it a part of who she is, rather than trying to disguise or hide it. This is turn gives any visit to Kintsugi a personal element, the visitor sharing not just in the creativity displayed in the completed region, but also in the healing process that is folded into its design and presentation.

The natural beauty of the region is evident from first arrival, but to help encourage exploration, a story as been added; those arriving are asked to find the nine spirits located throughout the setting, with each spirit found within a location: house, forest, water, garden, and more, there secrets revealed through local chat.

Thus, the best way to describe Kintsugi is as a subtle story told through a series of vignettes, each defined by a specific part of the region design, and knitted together as a whole by both the stories awaiting discovery and the natural flow of the landscape across the islands and water-borne elements reached via stepping stones that wind across the shallow, reflective waters that enfold the islands and their treasures.

The Japanese motifs found throughout the region  – Cherry trees, Torii gates, koi pond, raked zen garden, water lanterns and more – are used to marvellous effect, both adding to the spiritual feel to Kintsugi whilst also gently brushing it against the imagination sufficiently for the active mind to call forth stories of its own that might find a home here.

At the same time, there is much to capture and hold the attention of the more casual visitor: the natural beauty of the setting, the mystery of the deserted town on the high hill, the places to sit and appreciate each element within the region’s unfolding story. And obviously, there is much to commend the region to the eye and lens of the Second Life photographer.

Kintsugi is a truly bewitching setting, rich in detail and narrative, fully deserving of a visit. When you do, please consider making a donation at the landing point to help ensure its continued presence in Second Life.

SLurl Details

• Kintsugi, Spirited Beyond (Runaway, rated Moderate)