Category: Reviews

BarDeco and Kekeland – Coffee Island – click any image for full size

Coffee Island is a beautifully atmospheric homestead region designed by Dandy Warhlol (terry Fotherington) and Belle des Champs (Bridget Genna). It forms the latest iteration of BarDeco, the music venue and club (see here for more), carrying the name BarDeco & Kekeland – and it is truly an atmospheric place.

Split into three – a primary, sheer-sided island flanked by two smaller isles, one of which has been left to nature – the region sits shrouded in a gathering twilight through which wisps and ripples of mist are creeping. Visitors arrive on a dusty track on the main island, the slender form of an old chapel rising from the end of the track. In the other direction, the path curls south to follow the line of the cliffs, before turning west to cut across the island and again turning at the westward cliffs to turn again to follow them northwards.

BarDeco and Kekeland – Coffee Island

South of this track a narrow neck leads to the south side of the island, a bulbous headland where a broken carcass of an old lighthouse sits. This seems to point accusingly towards the shadowy bulk of a ruined farmhouse sitting hunched against a rocky shoulder, gathering the mist about itself forebodingly. A sandy bay sits below the ruined house, but even this has its own warning – the wreck of a trawler lays against the foot of the cliffs.

To replace the fallen lighthouse, a new one stands above the cliffs in the north-west corner of the island, looking westward out over the low hump of one of the accompanying islands while also casting an eye over the beach, which starts against the northern cliffs and runs round much of the east side of the island. An old bridge, in need of some repair reaches out over sand and sea from the beach, almost reaching the sands of the second of the smaller islands, which is home to a little coffee shop sitting on its rugged shoulders.

BarDeco and Kekeland – Coffee Island

The main islands’ curving beach is reached via a switch back path which descends from the northern  end of the track circling the island.  And old warehouse, filled with an artist’s bric-a-brac sits overlooking the path down to the beach, a barbed wire fence discouraging the local sheep from wandering too close. This warehouse / studio brings visitors almost full circle, standing as it does a short distance from the chapel and the landing point. But this is far from all there is to be discovered here.

Walk along the path to the chapel, and you’ll find that it is not all it appears to be. Just inside the doorway, and surrounded on three sides by undergrowth which almost looks like it is trying to take over the place, is a set of steps leading down. Follow these, and you’ll find the club mentioned in the region’s description.

BarDeco and Kekeland – Coffee Island

This is, quite frankly, beautifully done, with tall pillars of brick supporting a high ceiling, a frontage of old, weathered buildings offering a view out over a terrace and secluded bay. The bar offers a homely if roughshod welcome while a dance area sit at the foot of the steps leading down from the chapel. Two side rooms off of this offer a taste of shoddy-chic where patrons can relax. Almost entirely invisible from the ground above, with atmosphere added by the passing trawler off-shore passing ghost-like in the haze, the club area is an exquisite outpouring of imaginative design.

In fact, the entire region is an exquisite design. While the default environment settings add considerable atmosphere – as used in fur of the images here – the land really does lend itself to a wide range of windlight settings and different times of day, making it perfect for photographers. There are also several spots for sitting and passing the time – not just in the bar, but up along the path running around the islands and over at the coffee-house, making it the kind of place people may want to sit and enjoy, even if they don’t fancy mingling with those down in the club.

BarDeco and Kekeland – Coffee Island

Once again, a rewarding visit, and our thanks to Dandy and Belle for continuing to share their vision with us.

SLurl Details

• BarDeco and Kekeland (Coffee Island, rated; Moderate)

The Mill – click any image for full size

Friends Shakespeare and (SkinnyNilla) and Max (Maxie Daviau) are not only highly adept at finding regions to photograph (and poke me about visiting!), they also maintain their own exceptionally photogenic region, The Mill. This undergoes seasonal changes which not only match the passing of the year, presenting visitors with the opportunity of re-visiting throughout the year and see something new in the region’s layout, whilst retaining some familiar elements with each new design.

With autumn now on our doorstep in the northern hemisphere, Shakespeare and Max dropped me word that the latest iteration of their region is now open and available to visit, so as soon as the opportunity arose, I had to hop over to see what new delights await. And once again, doing so is more than worth the effort.

The Mill

A visit begins in the south-eat of the region, beneath the slowly turning sails of the titular (and familiar to regular visitors!) mill as it sits just above the surrounding sea, quietly watching over the land under its care. A cart track winds westwards, passing under the great boughs of an ancient oak to lead visitors on to where two more windmills, tops thatched and walls whitewashed, standing like smaller siblings to the region’s primary mill. Horses graze both in the field occupied by these smaller windmills and on the far side of the track, a passing soul having left the gate open to leave them free to wander.

Beyond the field, the tracks meanders onward, splitting to pass either side of a copse before coming to where a greenhouse, converted into a cosy little café, sits by the western sea, close to a river which cuts its way through the landscape from west to east, slicing it neatly in two. The river, rich in grasses and reeds, is crossed in three places – one of them being an ageing wooden bridge a short distance away, although those feeling adventurous can use the logs which span the water alongside of the café.

The Mill

The north side of the land rises gently to form a grassy backbone, studded with rocky outcrops. Another track winds its way around and up the hills to where and old industrial unit has been converted into a writer’s hideaway, typewriter awaiting its owner’s return. How you reach this little getaway depends on which path you take on crossing the river. Climb the slopes of the hill to the north-west, and you’ll come to an old shed which has clearly seen better days – although someone is clearly using it as a little snug -, an equally aged pick-up truck sitting close by. From here, another track winds up the hillside through trees and around shoulder to arrive at the aforementioned study.

Take the track pointing eastwards from the little market overlooking the river, however, and this will take you down back eastwards, following the dip of the river to where a deck has been built out over the water, kayaks drawn up on the grass beside it. It is here that the third river crossing can be found, another rough-and ready bridge of logs nailed together, and which takes advantage of rocks in the middle of the water to hold itself in place – not that any current here is particularly swift, thanks to the reeds and grass choking the water.

The Mill

Just beyond the deck and bridge, and with a view back along the path of the river as well as to where the mill sits, is a cosy little Tuscan-style farmhouse, chickens and geese outside and washing on the line. The track turns sharply left as it reaches the farm, switching back on itself to climb the hill up to where the writer’s retreat lies, offering visitors the chance to walk full circle around the northern side of the island.

And this is a design intended for walking. The tracks offer routes through the landscape to all the major points of interest, and the trees with their reds and golds add a touch of autumnal romance to the setting. Perfectly set beneath the evening sky, The Mill offers places to tarry as you explore, not only with the riverside deck, encouraging visitors to loiter and take in the quiet beauty of the region.

The Mill

The Mill is always a beautiful region to visit, and the current design is the perfect way to welcome a traditional autumn where the sun softly shines, the trees turn from green to rich hues of red, yellow, gold and brown, inviting us to amble through fallen leaves and relish that first wintery tang in the air.

SLurl Details

• The Mill (Pale Moonlight, rated: Moderate)

Gentle Breezes – click any image for full size

Having opened in August 2017, Rosy Highwater’s Gentle Breezes is the perfect antidote to inclement weather and the approach of winter – or if you’re in the southern hemisphere, the perfect promise of summer – and a chance to wander carefree, simply enjoying the freedom to be.

A Homestead region, it has been laid out with an eye for detail, and love of nature. From the sandy beaches up through the wooded hills, everything is pretty much perfect for setting the mind at ease and encouraging feet (and camera lens!) to roam. It’s a place for the photographer, the romantically inclined and those seeking escape for life’s weight.

Gentle Breezes

Surrounded by rolling hills and peaks which rise from sandy shores, the region presents itself as a small isle sitting in a channel between two larger islands. It is close enough to one of the latter to suggest that once upon a time, they may have been joined but overtime, the sea has had its way, cutting a path between them. Taken as a whole, the isle and hills around it – as high as some are – give the impression they may have all at some point in distant pre-history been the ring wall for the caldera of an ocean volcano which once pushed its head above the surrounding seas only to fall extinct and, over the aeons, have those seas erode away the weaker point of the crater walls, flooding the space within.

Visitors arrive towards the centre of the region, on the beach forming the lower part of the island, and which faces out to the west and south. Behind this, the hills of the island form a gentle curve from the east around to the north, casting rocky shoulders down to the sands below. The beach is split into three by channels running outwards from where water tumbles from the rocks of the hills, and it is on the central tongue of sand between the two channels that visitors initial land.

Gentle Breezes

With waves lapping against it, the beach here offers an arc of places to sit and cuddle or chat looking out over the waters of the bay. Two wooden walkways reaching out over the waters separating it from the sands to the north and south. The latter is as big as the middle tongue of sand, and is home to a pier-top beach hut built over the waters, offering the active a little exercise in scrambling up to it it’s flat deck. Those preferring a more relaxed time can sit as watch from the rowing boat moored by the pier, or from the other cuddle and seating points scattered across the beach.

A path marked by wooden boards offers a way up the slope of the hills, leading to the first of the cottages and cabins which share the upper reaches of the island with trees and flowers. As it does so, the path passes between great slabs of rock reaching out from the hills like a protective wall, the sand within their arms gently giving way to grass, while a wind-bent tree offers a modest amount of shade to an old rowing boat converted into a lover’s lounger beneath its bent back.

Gentle Breezes

The cabin at the top of the hill is cosily furnished and offers a taste of a simple life – bees for fresh honey, and an outdoor bath. A footpath runs southwards from the cabin, under an arch and to a lookout point overlooking the larger of the island’s two waterfalls and the hidden delight of a hot tub nestled at the foot of the cliffs. On the hill beyond the falls sit two more cabins, each simply furnished. More sitting and cuddle spots can be found spread between and around them, both in the open and under the shade of trees, while a second hot tub overlooks the southern end of the island.

The easiest way to reach the northern end of the island is over the board walk from the middle tongue of beach. This gives access to a set of wooden stairs which climb the cliffs to a brightly-painted beach house offering a grand view out over the island. A pair of wind turbines stand sentinel-like behind the beach house, and further away through the long grass, stone steps offer a way down to the foot of the smaller of the two waterfalls, and a raft floating gently on the water there.

Gentle Breezes

Gentle Breezes is truly a beautiful location – even now I’ve only just scratched the surface of all the details awaiting discovery – keep an eye out, for example for Rosy’s use of a sculpture by Silas Merlin to represent children playing on the beach. The setting is completely by a perfectly balanced ambient sound scape and for those so minded, a nicely considered chill-out music stream.

But there is also something more here as well. With its rugged hills, gentle beaches and offshore lighthouse, Gentle Breeze offers a remind of Rosy’s equally stunning Black Basalt Beach, which was open from 2013 through 2016, and about which I wrote in August 2013. For those of us who recall the latter, Gentle Breeze further offers a wonderful sense of memory whilst very much remaining its own landscape.

With thanks, once again, to Shakespeare and Max for the tip-off.

SLurl Details

• Gentle Breezes (Seaside Shores, rated: Moderate)