Category: Reviews

Sometimes when exploring Second Life it’s easy to miss what is pretty much in your own back yard, so to speak.

For example, it’s no secret I have a home in Second Norway – and I’m very proud of the fact I’ve been able to put down roots there. Recently I added to this by visiting New Deer Isle, a superb setting in Second Life created and held by Kaiden Glocke Tray (KaidenTray), writing about it here. With September arriving, I’ve been able to visit another public location within Second Norway, this one sitting within a cosy parcel of land just under 3,500 square metres in size.

Created by Karmagrl Nesbith (Karmagrl),this setting is genuinely magical and a total delight, with its core theme obvious from its title: Mad Hatter’s Tea Room.

However, to view it purely as some form of homage to the most famous literally works of Lewis Carroll (aka Charles Lutwidge Dodgson)would perhaps be an error. Yes, characters like the Cheshire Cat, the caterpillar, the dormouse, the dodo – as well as the Queen of Hearts, Alice, the White Rabbit and the Mad Hatter himself –  and more, are all waiting to be found; but they are the icing on the cake for what is a richly engaging setting that sits on, under, and above the parcel.

Welcome to the Mad Hatter’s Tea Room! After you come in through the main gate, wander into the gardens through the pink gate. Follow the flower pathway to the main building- the Tea Room. Stop in, sip some tea, imbibe in some delectable bakery delights, and just enjoy the view.

Be sure to walk off the Second Life calories that don’t really count, and take a trip through the grounds, enjoying the whimsical Alice in Wonderland décor. Be sure and go down to the waterfront, and have a glass of wine or a beer, or even a mixed drink in the secret bar that is through the dull looking door that seems to go no where…

– From the introductory notecard to Mad Hatter’s Tea Room

From the pink gates at the landing point (those arriving by road can park their cars outside of the larger wrought iron gates if they wish!) visitors have a choice of following the path directly to the Tea House or cross to the a large terrace overlooking a natural cove cut by water flowing both into and out from the land.

Motifs from Carroll’s books are immediate: the presence of the Queen of Hearts and Alice as greeters in the inner car park as your arrive; the bushy-tailed herald looking as if he’s ready to announce your passage through the pink gate, your arrival, the playing card guard, oversized teacups and caterpillar cars on the terrace…

Meanwhile the garden path meanders gently up to the tea house, offering it own delights of colourful blooms, fountains, budgies in the trees, bunnies at play (or asleep!) and a branching path cutting back across the gardens to reach the upper end of the terrace. A further path leads the way over a little pool of water to where visitors can join the Hatter himself for tea outdoors if they wish, seated at a table cupped in the arm of a stream as it tumbles away from the pool to join with a second stream before both drop away into the cove.

The non-calorific cakes, cream buns and other delights can be enjoyed on both floors of the Tea House, which offers further celebrations of Alice’s adventures as immortalised in animation and film. And don’t let the White Rabbit outside holding his fob watch trick you into believing you’re in any way late for any for of important date and that you need to be moving on; take a choice of tables indoors or out and just enjoy the setting.

Places to sit actually abound throughout the setting, whilst the terrace itself sit over the bar mentioned in the introductory notecard, two sets of steps leading out to its waterfront entrance. Teas and coffees might also be enjoyed in the bar – as might a beer or a cocktail by those so-minded. The terrace also offers chess for those who might fancy a game, and a small teleport base back alongside the pink gates will carry you up to the sky platform and its maze and mix of characters from the books.

To describe Mad Hatter’s Tea Room, however, is to mis the point – it’s a place to be visited and enjoyed. As such, I’ll encourage you to do so, particularly if you love Alice’s adventures, and I’ll leave you instead with a couple more images.

 

SLurl Details

• Mad Hatter’s Tea Room (Alesung, rated Moderate)

 

Update, November 2024: La Côte Sauvage has relocated and has been remodelled

Sitting within a half Homestead region is La Côte Sauvage (The Wild Coast), a natural location held and design by Second Life artist-photographer Caly Applewhyte (Calypso Applewhyte).  It takes as its inspiration the Breton Coast, France – although whether it is predominantly inspired by Brittany’s northern or southern coastline or an amalgam of both is unclear; and while there is a stretch of French coast along the Bay of Biscay actually called La Côte Sauvage, this lies within Nouvelle-Aquitaine further to the south, so is potentially not a factor in the setting’s design.

Note that where or upon what the setting might be directly inspired is particularly relevant;  Caly’s La Côte Sauvage speaks entirely for itself as a small but highly photogenic setting; a place which uses elevation to its advantage, allowing it to represent a coastal area without relying on being backed-up against one side of the parcel or another (or maybe two sides) within which it sits, thus allowing to stand as something of an island setting, whilst also allowing the imagination to interpret as a stretch of coast whilst wandering between valleys and hilltops.

Although sitting within a half Homeland region, the setting is actually split into two parcels: to the south is La Côte Sauvage itself, primarily given over to dray land and with a richness of content that does not feel it is in any way overcrowding the parcel. Then, to the north is the largely open water La Côte Sauvage 2, to which I’ll circle back in a bit.

The landing point is located on the southern side of the land, where a small boardwalk reaches over the water from one of the setting’s beaches to a little knob of an isle that offers the first of many places where those who wish to sit and spend time in the region. On the landward side of the boardwalk, a signboard for the Nature Collective can be found, where donations for the settings upkeep can be made. Close by are further places to sit, one in the lee of one of the setting’s hills, the other on the beach itself. 

The main path of exploration runs north between two of the elevated parts of the location, dog-legging a little to the east to reach the bank of a stream as it cuts through the landscape in a reverse “s”, before turning north again and open out to access another of the beaches. To the left of this path are steps leading up the side of the hill to reach a low plateau claimed by the local sheep and which includes a comfy little seat for any shepherd wishing to keep and eye on them 🙂 . From here it is possible to climb up to the highest point in the setting, where a rotunda has been built to house a small gallery of Caly’s photography, together with a vendor where copies of Caly’s work can be purchased.

This gallery overlooks the beach mentioned above, behind which sits a carpet of grass between the beach and the stream on which can be found a summer house. Neatly utilising the larger half of Cory Edo’s Yara Treehouse outfitted to offer a cosy retreat, complete with a sofa to watch the ebb and flow of the sea. 

The second half of the treehouse structure sits as another little cosy hideaway on the south side of the landscape. It can be reached one of two ways: when following the main path between the hills, a turn to the right at the foot of the the hill there and using the stepping stones to cross the stream; alternatively, a walk east along the beach at the landing point and then following a rock (and spray-drenched!) walk around the base of the cliffs to where a bridge spans the mouth of the stream. On the far side of the cabin from the stream offers a way up to the hill behind it, as well as to a little cove that offers a bit of a hideaway place to sit and spend time. 

Turning to the stream, this starts to the north-east of the land, snaking its way south and west and then back to the east again to reach its mouth. It’s possible to follow a good part of the stream towards its source using its southern bank and two bridges. Doing so will bring visitors to the two final points of interest on the northern side of the setting: the ancient ruins on the northern-eastern hills, and the raised walkway reaching out over the water to an aged stone pavilion surmounting a single island.

Both the ruins and the pavilion, although of different ages, sit will together and add a sense of history to the setting – and in the case of the ruins, with their stand stone, alter and ancient Norse horn, offer a sense of mystery and mysticism, while the columned steps leading up to these points carry a hint of ancient Central American architecture. Meanwhile, the pavilion carries with it a hint of the Romanesque in both its style and its furnishings (and even in foodstuffs set out on the table).

All of the above still misses out on so much the reach has; the manifold places to sit and / or take photos, the coastal soundscape, and the ability to rez items – most notably as props for photography – but do remember to pick up your bits when done.

It’s this aspect of rezzing that brings me back to the the open water  to the north of the land, offering as it does the opportunity to rez something like a rowboat, pedal boat, windsurfer or similar and take to the water and travel around the setting (just be careful about straying into the neighbouring half of the region!

In all, a beautifully crafted setting, relaxing, and fun to explore – but don’t just take my word for this!

SLurl Details

• La Côte Sauvage (Arianna, rated Moderate)