In September 2024, I visited La Côte Sauvage (The Wild Coast), a natural location held and designed by Second Life artist-photographer Caly Applewhyte (Calypso Applewhyte). Taking its inspiration from the Breton Coast, France, it was at that time located within half of a Homestead region.
And while people might say a year is a long time in politics, just a matter of a couple of months or so can be an age in Second Life! Because that’s all it has taken for La Côte Sauvage to change location and expand, offering a setting both familiar and new to explore.
Whilst still occupying one half of a region, the region in question is now a Full region held by Caly, with La Côte Sauvage running north-to-south along its western half, the Landing Point sitting roughly between the northern and southern extremes. I’m not sure when the move was made, but at the time of my visit, it did appear as if one or two things were still in the process of being placed / awaiting placement, with the little puppy happy in his sleep from the previous iteration still resting, but at the time I dropped in, floating serenely above and behind one of the setting’s little cabins, together with floating hovering overhead not too far away.
The cabin in question is one half of the Trompe Loeil Yara Treehouse, as carried forward from the previous build, with its remaining half (also sans supporting trees) has been transplanted to the southern end of the landscape. They are not alone in being carried over, as those who visited La Côte Sauvage in its “old” home will realise as they wander; there is much here that is familiar – and rightly so – within the expanded landscape. But this is not to say the setting is the same; there is also much that is new.
Take, for example, the the henge-like standing stones and the ruined chapel on the headland beyond them; both echo the presence of the ruins that occupied the former Côte Sauvage, complete with the henge stones speaking to an ancient past; but the manner in which henge and chapel ruins speak of age is very different to the ruins which had resided in the former build. Similarly, while the Romanesque pavilion and its refreshments appears here, it now sits within a more shelter location, complete with a new view over the land as it sits at the edge of the setting’s rich woodland.
These woods occupy most of the eastern side of the land, set back and above stream and sandy coast as if ready to rebuff any harsh winds that might otherwise seek to make their way inland; and the winds and the sea here can indeed be hard and cruel, as evidence by the wreck of a ship driven on to rocks to the north. However, shelter from the harshness of the sea is offered by a headland, an island and a causeway of rock, all of which conspire to guard an inlet cutting into the land before the Landing Point. It is here that a stream bursts froth from rocks below the treeline and bubbles and rushes the short distance to the waters of the inlet, passing under one of several bridges aiding walkers in their explorations as it does so.
It is within the trees that a meandering path might be found, offering another route of exploration running roughly north-to-south. It can be reached from several points, although probably the easiest is to take the steps winding up between the rocks at the north end of the setting, close to the cabin there, or by climbing the stone steps to the Romanesque pavilion and then making your way through the trees until you reach it.
This path actually straddles the parcel boundary between the two halves of the region, the woodlands doing to as well. This given the impression that the two halves of the region might be somewhat contiguous – although the different EEP settings used in each also belies this. I frankly have no idea if the two halves, even if thematically different, are supposed to run together and be open to all who visit; at the time of my visit, the east side was very much under development, so I kept my nose out as far as possible so as not to interfere.
Several places to sit can be found along the woodland trail, together with a mystical altar. Quite what rituals the latter might be for, I have no idea, but its presence added a shade of misty to the woods.
In terms of mystery, the altar might be matched by the mysterious building on the island protecting the inlet mentioned earlier. Built into the island’s peak and at first resembling an old bunker, it is in fact the entrance to Caly’s gallery space: take the teleporter inside to reach it. Built around a central lobby, the gallery offers four halls in which past exhibitions presented by Caly across Second Life continue to be celebrated. Just click the tree stump to return to ground level, either at the bunker or the landing point.
As with its former location and design, La Côte Sauvage remains a very visual and engaging place to explore and visit, so if you missed it the first time around, now’s your opportunity to catch up!
SLurl Details
- La Côte Sauvage (Arvor, rated Moderate)
