Category: Reviews

Once Upon A Fairy Tale – click any image for full size

The last time I visited Cape Juniper, Danni Lyric’s home region which she uses to showcase her landscaping and design skills, was in September 2015. As such, it is a place which periodically changes, and I was drawn back to is after seeing the region featured in a recent Destination Guide highlights under the title Once Upon A Fiary Tale. And if you in any way enjoy fairy tales sweet or grim, or have a penchant for stories involving wizards, elves, dragons and more, it is most assuredly a place you will want to visit and savour.

Once again, Danni – with the assistance of Psy Carnell – has created a unique, eye-catching environment with a lot to explore, see and discover – far more than may first meet the eye. “This year, instead of observing the changing of seasons, [we’ve]  decided to take a nostalgic turn,” Danni explains. “Once Upon A Fairy Tale is a  whimsical fantasy land with scenery inspired by fairy and folk tales of our childhood. You’ll notice as you travel around the different areas that, while nothing is an exact match to any single tale, there are strong hints you will find recognisable.”

Once Upon A Fairy Tale

Visits start ordinarily enough on a path alongside a notice board. A light haze hovers in the air, and a sign post alongside the landing point gives the first hint of just how much there is to find within this realm of folk tales, stories and imaginings. Take the footpath in one direction, and you’ll be led down to a watery oasis where merfolk reside; take it in another and you’ll climb a short hill to where Cinderella’s  magical coach awaits, steeds and carriage yet to hear the strike of the midnight hour. Take it in the third offered direction and you’ll be led inland past wolves and a waterfall and over a ridge to – well, I’ll let you find out for yourselves!

Perhaps the best way to appreciate the beauty and otherworldliness of Once Upon a Fairy Tale is to pump up your draw distance to about 300-310 metes, and carefully cam out, keeping your focus on the land before you. As you do, you’ll see that the paths and lush greenery of your arrival point are surrounded by a mix of pointed green crags, flat-topped tables of rock and islands floating serenely  in the haze, each the home to a scene or setting. These form a ring around the centre of the region, linked back to it by bridges and walkways, whilst not all being connected one to another.

Once Upon A Fairy Tale

Nor does the magic end there. Cam a little further out, and you’ll see that the region and the waters lapping it have been designed so it appears all of the land is floating on a foundation of clouds, the encompassing sea of Linden Water converted into an unending expanse of sky. It’s an extraordinary sight, one given added depth by the waters which tumble from the edge of the land into the “clouds” below.

As Danni notes, this isn’t designed to be a single fairy tale or fantasy setting; it is both an interpretation and an amalgam of stories, such that each island or location might be considered an individual setting with its own tale. But at the same time, when exploring, you cannot escape the fact that the different locations naturally flow one to another, whichever route of exploration you take. As such, there is a feeling of story-like continuity whilst exploring.

Once Upon A Fairy Tale

Then, of course there are the various images and suggestions posed by the scenes one encounters along the way. These will naturally be very individual for each of us: is the wizard Gandalf or one of his brethren, or is he more akin to Dumbledore and wizards of his ilk? Are the dragons from the pages of J.R.R.T or G.R.R.M?

Nor are the scenes restricted to purely western influences; the oriental is represented atop a couple of the islands, complete with Buddha and cushion for those who want to meditate. Elsewhere can be found winged horses (Pegasii?), complete with smithy to look after them, industrious gnomes, fairies and more. Through it all, the attention to detail and the little touches bring this world to life, as do the characters populating it – the gnomes, dwarves, creatures and (especially) the wizard.

Once Upon A Fairy Tale

This is a magical region for children of all ages, and most certainly not one to be missed or avoided.

SLurl Details

• Once Upon a Fairy Tale (Hollandise, Cape Juniper, rated: Moderate)

An Uncertain Destiny – click any image for full size

Caitlyn and I recently had the opportunity to drop in on Mystic, the Full region on which friends  Boudicca Amat and Anthony Westburn have their home. The occasion of our visit was to mark the completion of Bou’s work in redesigning their land, which covers a little under 1/4 of the region and which is now once again open to public visits.

Once called Hestium – which you can read about here and here – the parcel is now called An Uncertain Destiny, and once again it is a tour de force of Boudicca’s creative talent, bringing together several elements into a cohesive whole whilst also demonstrating you don’t actually need an entire region – Full or Homestead – to create something memorable (particularly with the increases in Land Impact allowances).

An Uncertain Destiny

On arrival, visitors find themselves on a small sand and shingle beach surrounded on three sides by a tiered, rocky landscape. The table-topped cliffs and plateaus offer a lush covering of grass, flowers and trees enjoying the summer rain. These various rocky tiers are connected by stairways and paths, offering a number of potential routes for exploration.

Where you go after your arrival is up to you: simply climb the steps up from the beach and let your feet carry you where they will. To the west sits an old castle keep, now converted into a cosy pub on one side and a little library-come-reading room on the other. A staircase from the pub directs people up to a rooftop café where Bou reads from some of some of her favourite books every Tuesday and Thursday between 15:15 and 16:00 SLT.

An Uncertain Destiny

Beyond this, a path winds up between trees and up more steps, promising the way to the land of Far, Far, Away. No Shrek or Fiona to be found here, however. Instead, there is a cosy Scandinavian stuga sit with its back to another cliff, some mystical ruins nearby.

The mystical feel can also be found on the east side of the parcel, beneath the cliffs of Bou and Anthony’s private home – the only part of the parcel not open to public access. Here sits an ancient stone circle reached via a gabled gate. Close by, and occupying the tops of another plateau, sit a formal garden and a hedge maze. I’ll leave you to discover how to reach them – there is more than one route 🙂 .

An Uncertain Destiny

All of this is brought together by a central garden of wild flowers and shrubs, in which a graceful conservatory sits, the little terrace outside its door open to the gently falling rain. For those preferring to sit in the dry, a  s swing bench can be found nestled under a rock shelf close by, warmed by a little fire. Couples might also find a place to sit in the gazebo of the walled garden a slightly longer walk away and overlooking the beach.

Bou has always had an eye for colour, line, composition and detail, and rain – or as we sometimes call it in England, “liquid sunshine” due to its frequency – notwithstanding, an Uncertain Destiny once again proves this in spades. Not only is it a gorgeous design, wonderfully photogenic and delightfully relaxing, it is filled with wonderful little touches which bring it perfectly to life.

SLurl Details

• An Uncertain Destiny (Mystic, rated: Adult)

The Hell’s Heaven 2.0 – click any image for full size

“Stay awhile,” Snoob (SnoobJohnson) and his partner, Mila (Mila Maesar) say in greeting to visitors to their homestead region, The Hell’s Heaven 2.0. “Let  this world  refresh your soul and
melt your worries away …  Explore this cloudy world of changing scenery and enjoy your stay!”

It’s a warm invitation, and there is much to enjoy within the region, which has been beautifully created by Snoob, with touches inspired by Mila to offer photographers and explorers alike with a visual treat – an anyone who has looked at the Flickr group for the region will only be too aware.

The Hell’s Heaven 2.0

This is a land of two distinct parts. To the west sit low-lying marshlands, ankle-deep in water and carpeted in long reeds and grasses through which a water-hugging mist drifts.  Scattered over this lay dilapidated shacks and cabins, their floors flooded and wooden walls slowly rotting, submerged wooden walkways running from nowhere to nowhere outside. Wrecks of cars and pick-ups complete the scenery, together with a couple of rowing boats and the rusting body of an old airboat.

To the east, the land rises abruptly in a series of rocky crags, high ridges and flat-topped plateaus, cutting the land between them into deep gorges, one connected to the next, through which the marshy waters drift and aged trees stand, trunks bent and branches hanging low, like old men needing a cane for support as they watch the passing of time and the world.

The Hell’s Heaven 2.0

Waterlogged paths wind through these grey canyons, leading the way to an old, broken railway line emerging from a boarded tunnel. Overhead, clouds drift across a sky deepening with dusk, their shapes a mix of grey and softly burnished bronze. Between sky and ground, strung across one of the gorges, sits an old chair lift, all but one of the wooden seats fading in the sun, the exception dangling beacon-red beneath the uppermost stretch of taut cable. Do be aware when wandering the canyons, that a private residence lies beyond them in the north-east corner of the lane – please respect privacy there.

A hinterland of rock, reeds, and water, there is a feeling this place has been long abandoned; the cars are rusting, an old fuel pipe and valve leaking oil into the water, adding the glossy touch of alien colours to its surface here and there. But while abandoned, this land is not deserted. Egrets and herons perch here and there, eyes alert for fish – so the waters aren’t that contaminated – while crocodiles rest among the reeds, perhaps also waiting for unwary prey to come a little too close.

The Hell’s Heaven 2.0

The Hell’s Heaven 2.0 – the name a reminder of Snoob’s original The Hell’s Heaven – is very much a place of peace and serenity, with the feeling of decade and passing time adding to its beauty, and not necessarily in a melancholy way. There is a sense of romance to the region, giving it the feel of a setting from an unwritten novel.

Be sure to pay a visit and write your own chapter.

SLurl Details

• The Hell’s Heaven 2.0 (Rainbow Ridge, rated: Moderate)