Tag: Exploring Second Life 2022

In February 2002, I visited Buddha Garden, a “paradise of pleasure” put together by Gian (GiaArt Clip) and Havih. As I noted at the time, it was tucked into the north-west quadrant of a Full region and formed a place deserving of its description, as I noted in A Buddha Garden in Second Life.

So when co-creator of that iteration of the setting, Gian, dropped me a line to say that Buddha Garden has relocated to a Homestead region, I knew I’d have to hop over an take a look for myself. Now working with the assistance of Ella (Shaye Suki), Gian has produce a setting that builds on the original, keeping much of what made it a pleasure to visit back in early 2022 whilst offering an entirely new take on the original vision.

The main part of the setting retains its highlands feel in the form of a west-facing arc of cliffs from which great falls tumble into a round lagoon embraced within the arms if low sand banks and rocky outliers. The landing point for the region sits on the southern of these arms, alongside little wood-built café-cum-teahouse. Japanese in tone, this sits across open waters from a small island which is home to a small Onsen style bathhouse and accompanying cabin reached via  a ridge of sand sitting just under the waves.

Follow the sand of the beach towards the cliffs, and you’ll find a pool sitting at the base of alone waterfall. Steps on either side of it respectively offer paths up to a hideaway overlooking the pool and also up around the east side of the main island. Here a further set of falls drops through a series of natural steps linking rocks and pools guarded by carved statues of Buddha sitting in quiet meditation despite the roar of water.

Two further pools set at the base of this falls, one clearly man-made and with a hideaway behind it (and another cooled by a curtain of water sitting above it and reached by its own steps); the second pool forming a natural body of water bordering the inland side of a grassy field. A paved path marks the outer edge of the field, passing a garden camp site warmed by a blazing fire and an old fence separating the garden from the field,

More fence posts march out into the open waters. They mark another submerged path, this one leading to another off-shore island topped by a stone tower. This is the home of the Khin Tower Art Gallery, offered by Gian as a place for artists to display their work free-of charge for between a week and four weeks total.

2D SL images digital art, paintings and illustrations are welcome (but no nudity), and there is some potential for 3D pieces to be displayed. Those interested should contact Gian in-world for further details (the sign at the foot of the path leading up to the island also offers information on the gallery).

Back on the island proper, the stone bridge arches over a small stream fed by a low-lying waterfall issuing from under the crossed legs of one of the cliff-side Buddhas. Beyond the bridge, the path passes onwards through a copse of trees to a clearing where a monk in the traditional orange robes signifying peace sits reverently in meditation before a further, aged, statue of Buddha, watched over by young wolves.

A horseshoe pool sits beyond the clearing and trees, fed by yet another waterfall tumbling from the lip of an out-thrust of rock mid-way up the side of the main cliffs. This high lip is home to another location carried over from the original Buddha Garden; a retreat reached only by ascending the wooden steps climbing the face of the sheer rocks on the far side of the wide pool.

The base of these stairs and platforms also points to where people can pass by way of makeshift bridges, sandy beach and tall rock arch to the second arm of the west-facing lagoon. At their top, meanwhile, the stairs only provide the means to reach the retreat, but also to way further up the cliffs past the butterfly cave from the original build, and on up by way of more platforms to where an ancient ruin stands in wait of visitors and lovers of tai chi.

All of the above still only scratches all that is available within Buddha Garden; within its expanded beauty are multiple places to sit and relax or engage in meditation and / or enjoy the company of a close friend or loved one. There are hidden details I’ve intentionally not mentioned here – they deserve to be found by the keen-eyed and focused explorer. As such, I’ll leave it to you to explore the island for yourself – you won’t be disappointed!

My thanks to Gian for the invitation to re-visit.

SLurl Details

• Buddha Garden (Ahimsa, rated Moderate)

I first came across the work of Kaja Ashland and Marcus Bremser when, in 2014 I visited the AERO Golf Club and, whilst not a fan of golf in the physical world, found myself enjoying the game. This led to several returns over the next few years and prompted me to write about the club again in 2017, after it had undergone an extensive redesign.

Since then, both Kaja and Marcus have launched individual projects, and in 2020 and again in 2021, I visited and wrote about Kaja’s Noweeta Homestead region. As such, a write-up of Marcus’ latest project, Moruya, is long overdue.

At the time of my visit, this roughly 12,000 sq m parcel of land sitting on the east coast of Sansara’s Islandia North, lay presented as Moruya Sanctum, which Marcus describes as a tropical beach fronting high cliffs, the landscape transitioning to something more temperate in nature as visitors climb up to its high table top.

I’ve no idea if Marcus has drawn on the name Moruya from Australia’s New South Wales and the Moruya River (the name drawn from an Aboriginal word, mherroyah, said to mean “home of the black swan”). Given his Profile states he spends “extended periods abroad”, it’s tempting to think so even if his Profile also states his current time zone is only 12 hours ahead of SLT, rather than the 19 one might expect for far New South Wales. Not that there is any similarity between Moruya Sanctum and the Aussie river of which I’m aware (other than having its own stream flowing eastwards to reach the sea, doing so via a high waterfall rather than a broad estuary); it’s just an idle direction my little imagination wandered off towards during my visits.

The landing point for Moruya Sanctum is presented as a little dinghy tied up to a small, T-shaped wooden dock reaching out a short distance from the beach. Bracketed to the north and south by shoulders of rock extending from the main cliffs, the beach is split by the aforementioned falls and the water which flows out from them in a short, shallow channel. The south part of the beach, on the far side of the water from the dock, offers a little place to enjoy the Sun, complete with palm tress for a degree of shade.

The path up to the highlands switchbacks up the cliff above the north side of the beach as a mix of sloping rock, steps and ladders. Getting up this path takes a little care (I noted several people have some issues, mainly because they were trying to take shortcuts up very tall rocks – just follow the obvious steps and take care at the narrow pass at the top of the ladders, and you’ll be fine.

A stone arch greets visitors at the top of the climb, a final climb of steps running up to the main path between the head of the waterfalls and a stone-built gazebo. The arch and a stone wall bridging the waters of the stream offer the first suggestion that these highlands may have once been home to a structure constructed of cut stone blocks, some of the stone from which may have been used to create the tile-roofed gazebo.

The gravel path immediately offers a choice of routes. To one side, it curves neatly around the gazebo to reach a grassy little faerie round for sitting in the shade of trees, nicely secluded from the rest of the plateau. The second route takes you across a wooden bridge over the stream to a further fork in the path, both of which again hint to a structure of great age having once stood here, thanks to the presence of moss-covered stone steps along both arms of the path.

To the left, curved steps rise to a small grassy meadow cut through by the continuing arc of the footpath as it passes between mature pine trees to reach further steps leading up to more extensive ruins overlooking the upper reaches of the stream and the waterfalls feeding it from the cliffs at the western end of the setting. Meanwhile, the second arm of the path reaches back over the water via a great slab of rock to where steps lead up to another secluded seating area set out in the grass and facing the ruins from across the channel of the steam.

But these aren’t the only routes across this upper reach of land; at the base of the curved steps pointing the way to the ruins is a ribbon of grass in seed. Take this and you’ll find yourself with a choice of natural trails reaching to pools of water isolated from the stream and offering their own outlooks and places to sit. Travel onwards along the upper of these trails as it runs through the grass and under the shade of more mature trees, and you’ll find a nicely hidden camp site, complete with its own back route up to the ruins above the stream.

Secluded seating and sitting spots aren’t the only secrets awaiting discovery here, however. Tucked away within Moruya Sanctum is a gently winding throat of a cave, its sandy tongue reaching deep under the high cliffs to lap at an emerald pool of water.

You’ll have to find the entrance for yourself – part of the fun of exploring Second Life is finding such hidden spaces, so I’m not going to give everything away here (not that the cave entrance is that hard to find). Suffice it to say, find your way into the cave and you’ll find bats, places to sit, cats, and the opportunity to bathe in the waters of the pool. All of this is overlooked by two figures, one carved in stone, the other cast in bronze, and one of which, together with the banners hanging from the rock walls, offers a hint of Arthurian legend.

Cosy yet with a rich sense of space, easy on the eye (and the viewer), with plenty of opportunities to relax and / or take photographs, Moruya Sanctum makes for a highly engaging and picturesque visit.

SLurl Details

• Moruya Sanctum (Barbados, rated Moderate)

On this grid I actualize the worlds I imagine, conjure my wildest daydreams, and walk a path unknown. I am here to create a fantasy for others to enjoy. Landscaping is my medium, my love language, and my story.

– TONAL (Avalyn Aviator)

At the start of 2022 I visited the TONAL brand regions, held and designed by TONAL (Avalyn Aviator) who, despite hailing from California, has a clear love of France. At the time, the two regions offered an engaging mix of Parisian cityscape and open French countryside (see: A trip to France in Second Life); since then, the estate has grown somewhat. So, given this, and the fact that I had a timely reminder from Shawn Shakespeare concerning the estate, I thought bookending the year somewhat with a return visit as 2022 draws to a close might be a good idea.

Gone now is the cityscape I encountered in January 2022; instead, the three core regions of the estate offer a more rural setting, caught in the depths of winter. At the western end of these three regions sits the open countryside of Lake Siren, offering a memory of Village des Chasseurs de la Valle de Londyn which stood within it at the time of my January 2022 visit. However, this is just an echo; the landscape has changed considerably, now being built around a smaller village, within which can be found properties available for rent.

This is curious place, inasmuch is sitting in the middle are a couple of light aircraft parked on a small apron – although how they got here is a mystery; however, each has its own little secret. Touch the red-and-white DSN Debonair and you’ll be transported to your home location; the C90 King Air, meanwhile offers an experience-based teleport to the TONAL airport, sitting further to the west of the regions I’m exploring here, and so beyond the scope of this article.

Close to this village sits a rather interesting camp site (or I assume it is), although whether units here, both on the ground and up on tree boughs, can be rented was not immediately clear to me. To the north of the village, the land drops away around the edge of a narrow-necked inlet cutting into the rugged landscape. Fed by a series of waterfalls dropping into it from two ends, the inlet forms a T-shape, the east side of its stem forming a long tongue of land ending in a bridge passing over the water’s neck.

To the north of the region, the land is largely given over to a private house and grounds, whilst westwards the land opens out in rolling, snowy countryside. Here can be found rezzing points, allowing visitors to drop a car or – as I would suggest – a horse or other rideable, and take to exploring. The major road runs more-or-less due west, and sadly doesn’t offer a route up to the façade of the hilltop hotel.

Travel far enough westwards along the road and you’ll come to a stone bridge providing access to the third of the regions I explored. The home of the city setting at the time of my start-of-year visit, this region – TONAL Family – is now given over to the huge and impressive Château de Chantilly. Open to the public, this contains echoes of the city build; its rooftop bar brings to mind the (more ostentatious) Jardin et Salon de Thé found within the January build, whilst the considered use of statues in the ground also helps give a sense of continuity between the two very different settings – something I always enjoy finding.

Within the chateau there is much to be found: an art gallery, museum, library, lounges, a spa, the Chateau also offers luxury rooms for those looking for a place in which to spend time. Details of the rooms and rates can be found on the TONAL website, which also provides information on the estate’s rentals and the TONAL airport, mentioned above. Those staying at the chateau gain access to all of its facilities, which also include horse riding, hunting, swimming and horse racing.

Taken together, these three regions within the TONAL estate offer an interesting and generally photogenic visit with plenty of opportunities for exploration. However, I do have to be honest; in places, there is a lot going on, and as a result frame rates can take a hit, so be prepared to drop your draw distance or disable Shadows (if used), other than when taking photos.

SLurl Details

The TONAL estate is rated Moderate.

• Chantilly Village (TONAL Siren Lake)
• Château de Chantilly (TONAL Family)
• TONAL airport (TONAL Creative)
• TONAL website

Just over a year ago, Hera (Zee9) revealed her take on Whitechapel, the district of East End London infamous for the predatory wandering of Jack the Ripper and, as a result, the influence for many a film and TV series – perhaps most recently that of BBC’s Ripper Street, with its mix of the fictional stories built around very real figures from the period (notably Edmund Reid, and to a lesser extent Frederick Abberline, although after Season 1 the series strayed much, much further from the story of Edmund Reid).

At the time, the build was fascinating (as Hera’s builds inevitably are) in weaving together her own vision for the district and its rich history together with and equally rich mix of fiction. At the time, the fictional elements included not only Ripper Street, noted by the presence of the H Division station, but also touches of Penny Dreadful, the Jekyll and Hyde and Frankenstein stories, and more – all of which I noted at the time in Hera’s Whitechapel in Second Life.

Well, as of mid-December(ish). Hera’s Whitechapel is back, together with another of her popular builds, that of Whitby – a setting I have twice covered in these pages, in October 2021 and again in April 2022. The two locations are reached via a common landing point, and each is accessed via teleport points at the posters alongside their respective trains, and both recreate the look and ambience of their previous iterations whilst also offering some new twists.

However, while I recommend Whitby to both Hera’s fans and to those who have not previously had the opportunity of seeing her unique take on the town and its links to Bram Stoker’s Dracula (with Hera augmenting this with a few additional fictional and real touches), I am here focusing on her Whitechapel build, as it offer a nice twist on the original iteration.

Unless you read the introductory note card available at the landing point, this twist might not initially be obvious on arrival within the setting – which remains the Whitechapel underground station. But climb the steps up to street level, and it starts to make its presence felt in a very subtle manner. Firstly, there are the street lights; hardly the typical gas lamp of late Victorian London (which, by the 1880s were starting to be converted to electric use within the City of London, if not its outlying districts), these are bulky units with pressure tanks, gauges and valves, suggesting stream is their medium for energy.

Similarly, whilst the early automobiles from the original build are present, several are now apparently steam-powered, adding to the sense that this version of Whitechapel has stepped sideways into Steampunk. This is further added to when one looks up to sky two great steam-powered airships overhead, one apparently following the line of a street towards its eventual destination, the other moored alongside a tall iron-built tower connected to a part of the elevated metal walkways that cling to the sides of many of the buildings and reached by the occasional stairs dropping to ground level.

Just across the road are the first hints of the fictional links waiting to be discovered: Sweeny Todd’s infamous barbershop has been transplanted from Fleet Street to Whitechapel’s Commercial Road, together with Mrs. Lovett’s pie shop. As with the original story, these two places of business are separated (courtesy of an intervening alleyway), but sadly no underground tunnel links the two for the transfer of victims.

Its an interesting place for the couple / partners in crime to go about their business, given they are located just across the street from the H Division headquarters building from which Edmund Reid and his men might instantly sally forth to solve a crime. Or if not a crime, then to make their way to the other end of Commercial Road  and Spitalfields’s famous Ten Bells pub to sup a hard-earned pint at the end of a long shift (a pub that remains open to this day – so do be sure to step inside when visiting Hera’s Whitechapel!).

And speaking of Edmund Reid; the mixing of Steampunk with the fictional world of Reid and H Division is seen in Ripper Street actually has the strand of a link to the detective’s real life: in 1883, the Balloon Association of Great Britain awarded him a gold medal for his record-breaking ascent in the balloon Queen of the Meadow from London’s Crystal Palace – one of over 20 flights he made by balloon (and if that weren’t enough to earn him at least a documentary on his life – in 1877 he was the first person to make a descent by parachute from an altitude of 1,000 ft!).

This iteration of Whitechapel retains other element from the original. There is Hanbury Street, where both Florence Eleanor Soper, the daughter-in-law of General William Booth of The Salvation Army, established The Women’s Social Work in 1884, and the location of the yard in which Jack the Ripper’s second canonical victim, Annie Chapman, was found; then there’s Berner Street, Miller’s Court, Buck’s Row and Mitre Square, the locations of the Ripper’s other four canonical victims.

Whilst seeking these out, explorers might also happen across the office of Messrs. Scrooge & Marley (adding a nice Dickensian seasonal twist to the setting), and the apothecary of one Dr. H. Jekyll, together with H. Rider Haggard’s (et al) Allan Quartemain’s townhouse, and Dr. Frankenstein’s loft lab, all of which also carry forward from the original. New (I think) to this build is the Grand Guignol theatre, hopping across the channel from Paris, and – referencing both the seamier side of the East End and giving a slight Sherlockian twist to things – a slightly hidden opium den. A further location I don’t recall from the original (but am obviously open to correction on this) is the Freemason’s lodge.

So, whether you’re new to Hera’s Whitechapel or familiar with the earlier iteration, you’re in for a treat of discovery should you drop-in this time around. However, should you add it to your list of places to visit, might be best to do so sooner rather than later; Hera has tended to take down her recent builds within a couple of weeks or so of opening them.

My thanks to Shawn Shakespeare for the nudge on Whitby / Whitechapel returning to SL.

SLurl Details

• Whitechapel / Whitby landing point (Cloud Lake, rated Adult)

Under the Northern Lights is the title Carrie Lemon Rogstad (LemonPuss) has given to her winter-themed Homestead region, currently open to visitors this December 2022.

As the name suggests, this is a snowy setting, largely open to the public to explore, although it has twelve small rentals around its edge. Available at L$700 a week, these present is simple geodesic dome (the GeoDome by Ria Bazar, a unit I’ve used myself in laying out region designs), with basic furnishings of bed, fireplace and décor elements, all of which is set out on a deck with each of the units.

The landing point sits towards the middle of this snowy, icy setting, caught within the arms of the surrounding mountains. This mid-point sits over frozen water as they cut into the region. A rutted track, dusted in the snow – which is more-or-less constantly falling – offers a short walk to a miniature golf area, with many of the holes themselves dressed for the season.

Come explore a Northern Winter Wonderland underneath the Northern Lights! Dome rental, Madpea mini-golf, Santa … ice skating, sleds [and] hangout.

– Under the Northern Lights About Land

Follow the track in the other direction and it runs past and around the local skating rink to loop back to the landing point, passing by way of a mobile café offering plenty of hot drinks for those who need warming up. Beyond this, multiple bridges and a couple of paths provide access to the outer parts of the region and the little rentals. At the time of my visit, several of the latter were rented and so obviously off-limits to casual explorers, but three were still available for those looking for something a little different to rent for the holidays.

Two of the bridges lead to a further public area, a setting fully of seasonal cheer, from Santa awaiting visitors to a roaring fire in a hearth and cost seating to be enjoyed; and – for those in need of them, some essential winter supplies and the opportunity to purchase a Christmas tree. Walk down the snowy slopes on the north side of this little winter market setting and you’ll come to another café. Brick built and  with an inviting interior, it is far more permanent than the one up by the skating rink.

With polar bears playing on the ice, and deer and horses scattered around, the setting keeps to the “Northern” in its name by only allowing penguins carved from snow to inhabit it.

Easy on the eye and presenting a gentle chance of exploration and multiple opportunities for photography, Under the Northern Lights makes for an easy-going visit.

SLurl Details

• Under the Northern Lights (Tesoro, rated Moderate)

Nailah Carlucci-Remain (Nailah Carlucci) recently invited me to visit her latest design, The Arctic Sanctuary. which she co-hold with Satria Pexington. Occupying a Homestead region, it is – as the name suggests – an Arctic setting, albeit it one with seasonal touches throughout and with the typical quirk of such settings in Second Life.

Walk through an arctic expanse, among the polar bears and penguins. Then climb onto the enchanted Hogwartz express. From there, stop for some tea and a look at the art and charming rooms at the classical chateau. Then warm yourself at the Christmas village for hot chocolate, ginger snaps, games and lots of skating. Take the balloon ride for a tour of the region.

– Nailah Carlucci-Remain (Nailah Carlucci)

The balloon tour is actually one of the first elements in the region arriving visitors may encounter, sitting as it does alongside the landing point in the north-west of the setting. The landing point is perhaps a little unsteady, being an ice floe tipping and pitching in the waves. From here the path runs by way of ice passing around the base of an iceberg to where the flank of a larger iceberg blocks the way forward, necessitating a climb up the ice face.

A set of climbing poses rise at the ice cliff, but these appear to be poses only, not animations; to get to the top of the ice is a manual climb. From here it is possible to climb up to a small bivouac or continue onwards over the ice to the rest of the region, starting with a headland where penguins play and polar bears hunt for fish along the edge of the water. Hot pools, there sides formed by calcified sulphur, sit across the spit of land from where the polar bears are seeking a meal, suggesting this is a volcanic location.

As the land opens out a little, visitors arrive at the express train mentioned in the description above – although a ride aboard it is liable to be problematic given the engine sits derailed with a snowdrift (not that it had anywhere to go; the rails end at the drift and rocks, presenting the train more for photographic purposes than a means of transit).

Within the carriages are the elements of the Harry Potter series also referenced in the description. These can be enjoyed by those boarding the train, the restaurant car offering tea and cakes via magically floating service tables. The best way to board the carriages is via the rails that bend away from the main track to the trestle bridge on which the carriages sit, and then entering the first carriage via the forward door.

The chateau and village lie beyond the tunnel from which the train is emerging, the tunnel or the snow and ice at the foot of hill it cuts its way through apparently the only ways by which to reach either the village or the chateau on foot. The trip through the tunnel reveals another of the region’s little quirks (the first being the presence of penguins in an Arctic setting; a not unusual factor in winter / polar settings in SL despite the incongruity, as noted at the start of this article): whilst the tunnel has at one end a railway line exiting it, at the other it has a paved footpath passing over a stone bridge, a broad drive pointing north to the chateau, steps to the east descending  down to the little village.

The chateau is pleasing furnished as a period setting offering plenty of opportunity for photography; the village offers a range of attractions, including ice skating, a catch-a-Santa game, cosy indoor sitting and outdoor paces to enjoy roasted chestnuts or hot chocolate. Interactive elements exist throughout the region, both above and below the waves.

When aboard the train for example, it is possible to obtain drinks from the elf and also touch the books for a few surprises; and should you be tempted by the treasure at the bottom of the waters under the rail bridge, you might find yourself becoming a snack for Bruce the Shark (film buffs may get the reference here). And even if you get past him, another surprise awaits at the treasure itself – you have been warned! In the meantime, for those who prefer their critters a little more sedate, there are a number of ice sculptures scattered around the setting.

An easy visit, The Arctic Sanctuary offers multiple opportunities for photography and interactive elements that help to make a visit fun and just a little bit different from the usual seasonal fare this time of year. All of which makes time spent within the region worthwhile.

SLurl Details

• The Arctic Sanctuary (illycit, rated Adult)