Tag: Exploring Second Life 2026

Benny Voxtex, whom I last wrote about in covering his (now closed) club, [Refuge]  – see: A [Refuge], a Deep Box, and a splash of absinthe in Second Life – recently invited me to preview his latest creation, The Great Mother. And all I can say is, “Wow!”

Fans of the Avatar franchise may recognise the term, given it is one of two “common names” (so to speak) by which Ewya, the globally distributed consciousness of Pandora is known; the other being the All-Mother. As such, it should come as no surprise that this is something of a personal homage to the Avatar movies whilst also being entirely unique as a setting in its own right; a place of infinite beauty; one that is utterly immersive.

Dive into the deep primordial forest, an ongoing passion project for Benny Vortex. Discover a lush, bioluminescent dreamscape of sights and sounds nestled below breath-taking floating islands under the silent gaze of a gas giant. May the spirits guide you.

– The Great Mother’s Destination Guide description

Occupying a Full region called – appropriately enough – Eywa, the setting captivates from the start. But before getting into specifics, there are some recommendations for enjoying a visit:

• Preferably, visit using a PBR-enabled viewer.
• Make sure you enable the local music stream to enjoy a soundtrack fully in keeping with the setting.
• Use the shared region environment settings.

Also, make sure you have local sounds enabled – this is an absolute must, as Benny has created an immersive soundscape, covering everything from the deep, echoing sounds of Pandora’s forests and creatures through to the sound of your own footsteps rustling the moss and grass. That said, don’t expect to encounter any of Pandora’s beasts – or ioang – whilst you may hear them in the distance, this is a place of sanctuary and spiritual awakening. However, if you opt to visit in a Na’vi avatar, that would be both appropriate and welcome.

Finally, do be aware that The Great Mother is very much a work in progress: whilst now open at the ground level, Benny has plans for vertical expansion and more. In fact, the Landing Point itself is in the air and presents the first of the setting’s unique elements.

Forming a small island, the landing Point is marked by a number of rope slides. Each of these bares a symbol scratched into its wooden frame, indicating the area of the biome below in which you will arrive. Pick the one you fancy and ride it down to a smaller floating island, where a dive mat awaits.

Sit on the dive mat, select your preferred dive (and style, if offered), and take the leap! Whichever area of the biome you selected, you will land in water. As you do so, a dialogue box will be displayed with a couple of options – one being a return to the diving mat and going again, if you wish.

However, to explore, ignore the dialogue – but do not stand up. You are still running an animation tied to the dive mat, and you can use it to swim through the water and / or to shore, where upon the animation will release you and allow you to walk.

Whichever rope slide you take, it likely won’t be the last, within the forest and waterways below are ropes to climb and rope traverses pass through the higher boughs, and trails over land and across water to be explored, together with discoveries to be made.  Keep an eye out for seeds marking potential points of interest as you explore. Overhead, further off-region islands hang in the night sky whilst a massive Jupiter-like gas giant watches over the comings and goings of this living world.

Extensive use is made of Elicio Ember’s fabulous plants, their bioluminescent fronds and petals well suited to representing Pandora’s own rich mixture of plant life, and this further brings the setting to life. As with the ideals of Eywa as well, there is a balance of lands and water throughout the region, with water channels as much as dry land trails offering routes of exploration – indeed, as Benny noted to me, the entire region is navigable by canoe.

As to what drew him to create such an environment, ad his future plans for expansion, Benny had this to say:

I really love the concept of the film and as a biologist/mycologist RL I can’t get enough of bioluminescent organisms. The next mission will be above 1000m with floating islands and waterfalls, and as I’ve also put a deep channel running through the region, I will eventually make it mer-friendly, and such.

– Benny Vortex on developing The Great Mother

Merfolk per se might not be a formal part of the Pandora ecosystem – although the Na’vi clearly have a relationship with the seas of their world – providing such a merfolk environment within The Great Mother does, to me, fit, and further extends the inclusiveness of the setting as a whole.

While I could write far more on the region, the truth is, it doesn’t need explanation – it deserves exploration and time spent with in it. As such, I’m going to wrap this up with a thank you to Benny for the invitation and the chance to explore for myself, and to strongly urge all Second Life explorers to visit Eywa and The Great Mother.

Slurl Details

• The Great Mother (Eywa, rated Moderate)

I came across Isola Sirena whilst perusing the Destination Guide. Comprising a pair of Full private regions, each leveraging the Land Capacity bonus offered by Linden Lab for such regions, it is an expansive, multi-faceted, multi-level setting with a lot to see and do throughout.

The work of Angel Kavanagh-Taylor (AngelWaldencork) and SL partner Kina Finest-Taylor-Kavanagh (Kina Amour), the setting also possesses several secrets worth discovering. The main starting point for explorations is located in the more westward of the two region, Isola Sirena – Sunkissed Cove Beach.

A sun-drenched Mediterranean-inspired sim offering sweeping coastal views and dreamy escapes. Explore a hilltop restaurant, mini golf in the clouds, a charming winery and farmers market, and a stunning beach, with beautiful beachside and villa rentals.

– Isola Sirena About Land description.

It is here, perched on a high mesa, is a complex of Landing and Information point, offering teleport boards to reach the majority of the setting’s major locations, several of which are located within the complex itself: the Game Room, La Vetta d’Oro, Mixology Bar, and outside, via the terrace, the Summit Infinity Pool and the Plaza. However, the best way to explore and discover most of the locations is on foot (with one exception!).

On the south side of the mesa lies a small village reached by one of two routes from the Landing Point complex. This, like the mesa’s summit, offers clear views out to the off-region surrounds which give the impression both regions are part of a broader Mediterranean location. However, to fully appreciate the extent of this, Draw Distance will likely have to be raised.

Parts of the village appear to be for rent as businesses or homes. How extensive these rentals might be wasn’t clear to me: many were empty; and without rental boxes, others were furnished as homes and include rental boxes. The village and its footpaths step down toward the region’s beach, passing by way of La Tavola di Eleanora Café, which can also be reached via the main teleporter boards, as can the beach below.

The beach itself offers a mix of public spaces and rental beach cabins, together with the hackney carriage ride, a jet ski rezzer, a swim assist board and the beach bar. At the south-western end of the beach can be found the Meditation Point and Beach Club, both reached via the Teleporter boards, and the former also by the Beach boardwalk.

A covered bridge provides access to the setting’s mid-point island, home to the stables and farmer’s market, and which also provides bridge access to an eat-point tongue of land extending out from the base of the mesa to connect with the second region of the setting. The appears to be largely given over to villas available for rent. However, it is also home to one of the setting’s secrets: the bathing cavern.

This is quite exquisitely done, the entrance offering something of a backstory to the cavern’s discovery. Offering, as its name suggests, a place to bathe in warm waters offering places to sit and cuddle around the edges of the pool all set within a location suggestive of great age. The main pool surrounded by tall statues, some of whom hold shells from which water falls to replenish the pool below. It is a place suggestive of a relaxed, hedonistic beauty.

Set to one side of the main pool is a blank cave entrance, a sign indicating it is the way up to the sun-based caverns.

These are equally magical in their design, and also entirely otherworldly. The path through them is well signed, and there are places here to pass the time alone or in company. Exploring them is an absolute must, whether via the bathing cavern (recommended) or the main teleporter boards. Nor are these the only caves to be found within the setting – but all let you find the others, accessible as they are from the ground and (again) the Teleport boards.

Eastwards, past the villa the land flows into Isola Sirena – Winery and Countryside. This again appears to be given over to villas available for rent, together with the Vetta Oro Vinicola wine bar and the Winery itself. The latter has its own secret located on the shoulder of the hill to one side of it. Guarded by a stone carving of a young (weeping?) woman, lies a stairway leading down to the wine cellar.

And there is still more to be found – from bumper boats to picnic areas and seating – and of course, the pair of small islands held aloft by balloons and home to mini golf, as mentioned in the setting’s description and which gives it a little twist of the surreal.

I will confess to having some small niggles with Isola Sirena. The main caverns are at altitude, and so are ideal for their own dedicated EEP setting. Similarly, the cavern baths also look as if they could be placed in a parcel with its own EEP. This would avoid the need for sign posts asking people to change their setting locally, and make the experience of exploring more immersive with seamless transitions.

Another minor niggle is with the wine cellar – the stairs down / up could benefit with rotation. As it is, they are placed in such a position that the camera is placed of the wrong side f the walls surrounding it, which can make for difficult navigation when climbing. A final small point is that raising Draw Distance to view both regions can lead to texture discards – the first time I’ve encountered this since LL worked on refining texture provisioning and loading; but there is a lot going on in both regions , texture-wise.

These niggles don’t spoil the overall impact of the regions or the setting as a whole. And it has to be said, that taken individually or together in a single visit, the regions of Isola Sirena make for an engaging visit, one worth eschewing the Teleporter boards in favour of exploration on foot.

SLurl Details

• Isola Sirena – Sunkissed Cove Beach (Perfect Fantasy, rated Moderate)

Sable Hound Hollow presents a sanctuary for dreamers and a haven for lovers. Here the first whispers of Spring and the enchantment of the Hollow invite you to linger awhile and let your heart rest and your worries fade. Be it alone or with that special someone, allow the quiet beauty of this place remind you the magic of love is real.

– Sable Hound Hollow About Land

So reads a description for Sable Hound Hollow – Romantic Reverie, a setting designed by Honey Heart (H0neyHeart) as a public space for people to visit and enjoy, and forming a part of the wider Sable Hound Hollow region.

set as a pair of islands floating just over 500 metres in the sky, this is – as the description suggests – a romantic setting, one of considerable beauty and detail and offering much to appreciate and see. The Landing Point sits on the larger, western island, located on its highest level.

Here, within a large gazebo where visitors can join the local Group and – from now through until the end of February – join in a number of events centred on a celebration of Valentine’s Day. These include a hunt (group tag required), and the opportunity to obtain a daily gift when visiting from February 1st through 14th (again, Group membership required).

Placed within a circular garden area, this upper reach of the setting offer two paths for visitors to follow as they explore. One of leads to a ladder draped over the edge of the plateau to offer a way down to a shoulder of rock arcing around the garden plateau. This forms another garden space with its own gazebo nicely separated form the rest of the setting to give a greater sense of intimacy / privacy, with treats and hot drinks available under its roof, exotic plants scattered among its flowers together with statutes, while trees provide shade and birds watch over the comings and goings of visitors.

The second path goes by way of steps to a larger garden space. this offers seating in the form of a bench floating under a cloud and a balloon holding aloft a seat for singles and couples (beware of the drop when standing up!), together with another table of treats and a Greco-Roman style gazebo where the 14 gifts for Valentine’s can be found, displaying the dates and times they will become available to Group members.

Beyond this area, another ladder descends to the second half (so to speak) of the lower shoulder of rock, which again offers companionable seating in two locations (and an easily missed swing if you are not paying attention!), together with a bridge spanning the gap to the smaller of the two islands.

Here, the setting is again split into various levels. Just off to the left on crossing the bridge, the island offers a curve of grass richly coloured by wildflowers, as it arcs its way to where water forms a curtain and pool as it drops from a rocky archway. As it does so, the path passes a table set for a tea party, although no individuals in hats or mice or caterpillars are in evidence –  just a pair of friendly rabbits :). Just before the waterfall and pool, a hint of magic is provided in the form of a bird perched on an upright post. Magical because if you wait just a few minutes, the bird will change its form and song.

The waters of the fall drop from the rocks forming the upper tier of this island, reached easily enough by a set of stairs. Here visitors can take a pony ride and receive a gift of said pony at the end. A trail winds around the plateau, passing all the points of interest, including statues, a pair of swings to ride, together with the opportunity for a picnic under the boughs of twisted trees and in the company of white peacocks. This trail ends in steps running down to another path and gazebo set at one end of another sweeping curve of garden.

A third ladder has been cast down from the north-eastern side of this upper space to offer a way down to perhaps the most secluded part of the gardens. This is where water drops down from the pool mentioned above to join with the flow of additional waterfalls as they combine into a large pool before tumbling over the edge of the island to fall away into the clouds below. Marked again by a colourful array of flowers and trees,  this area offers seating within another gazebo and a further swing suitable for solo sits.

All of the above barely scratches the surface of all there is to be found here; Honey’s attention to detail means that everywhere are touches and details. These run from the mix of flower and plants – most conventional, some carrying a sci-fi or fantasy twist; the local wildlife, some of which might be easily missed (like the weasel peeping out of a hollow log); the floating lanterns, and more.

Both romantic and serene, the island of Sable Hound Hollow make for a relaxing and visually engaging visit.

SLurl Details

• Sable Hound Hollow – Romantic Reverie (Sable Hound Hollow, rated Moderate)

Sitting on the mouth of Galway Bay on the west coast of Ireland, are the three Oileáin Árann, the Islands of Aran. Comprising three core isles –  Inishmore, Inishmaan and Inisheer, together with a number of small islets, the Arans are not a large grouping; the three main isles provide just 46 square kilometres of land mass between them. However, they carry a history of human habitation going back to around 1100 BC.

Between them, the islands have seen their fair share of history, including Cromwell’s forces stomping around the islands and building multiple churches (among other things), and in being folded into the Nine Years War (1688-1697), with Irish-born privateer Thomas Vaughan, working for the French, seized the islands for a brief period after a series on initial raids on the settlements there.

Of the three islands, Inis Oírr – to give Innisheer its Irish name – is the southerly. Covering just 1,448 acres, it is actually the island with the second highest population count for the Arans (343 as of 2022). Its small size makes it an ideal inspiration for a region build in Second Life – and that is exactly what Jade Koltai has done in order to create her latest region design at Overland Hills, and which she calls, appropriately enough, Inis Oírr.

Of course, even trying to capture 1,448 acres in a single region is no easy task, so Jade has once again sought to capture the spirit of Innisheer, focusing on offering representations of the island’s more notable landmarks and locations. And in my opinion, she more than succeeds. The design captures much of its namesake whilst offering a unique setting in its own right.

Chief among the latter are the Innisheer Lighthouse, completed in 1857 and located on the southern tip of the island; Teampall Chaomháin, the ruins of a church dedicated to the island’s patron saint, Chaomháin of Innisheer, and a representation of the MV Plassy. Despite being the “most celebrated of all the saints of the Aran islands”, little is actually known about Chaomháin, but the church dedicated to him lies within the cemetery on Innisheer, and which today looks more like an excavation than a church , something Jade has neatly reproduced.

The MV Plassy is very much a part of the island’s more recent history. Originally built as an armed anti-submarine trawler for the Royal Navy, the vessel was originally names Juliet (as in Romeo and Juliet, the ship and her sister vessels all being named for Shakespearian characters).

The ship saw service in World War Two, prior to being sold-off and renamed the Peterjon prior to again being renamed Plassy in 1951, and working as a coastal freighter. In 1960, a storm drove the ship onto Finnis Rock off the coast of the island, with the entire crew rescued by the islanders. A second storm then beached the wreck up on the rocky shore of Innisheer, where it remains to this day (perhaps gaining wider fame via a certain British-Irish sitcom of the mid-to-late 1990s).

Jade’s build wisely steers away from trying to present the island’s local community (although the Landing Point does take the form of a harbour wharf), instead concentrating on the above and other historical details, such as what might be seen as the ruin of one of the churches built by Cromwell – or perhaps a reference to O’Brien’s Castle, built in the 1300s.

There are also dry stone walls snaking across the rugged landscape, just as can be found across Innisheer, whilst a part of the landscaping of the coast might be taken as referencing the island’s limestone pavement. Even the island’s connection to Ireland gets a mention: at the landing point is a sign for the Doolin Ferry, which connects the Aran Islands with the settlement of Doolin, County Clare, to the south-east of the group – and indeed, a ferry is docked at the wharf.

The offshore region surround elements might be a little too mountain-like in places to represent the Galway / Clare coastline or Innismaan (Inis Meáin), the second largest of the three main islands, but this hardly matters; the presence of the elements help to give Jade’s Inis Oírr a further sense of place.

When visiting, do have local sounds enabled for a more immersive feel, and do note also that the shared environment is a little on the gloomy side (well, it is winter and this is the Irish Sea, and nature is hardly sunny a gay this time of year!).

It is because of this, I opted to make some adjustments to lighting when taken my photographs, and then overly this with shots using the actual EEP settings for the region as a part of post-processing. Hopefully, this helps bring out some of the details more clearly.

Slurl Details

• Inis Oírr (Overland Hills, rated Moderate)

Landscaping creator and friend Cube Republic pointed me in the direction of Whithermere, a Homestead region designed by Dargason L’Ardente (rlhaydenfield) as both her home and a public space. Incorporating multiple settings within it, the region also forms a showcase for Dargason’s own landscaping skills.

Whithermere’s Dryad Sanctuary, and the home of Dargason L’Ardente, Dryad of Sedany Wood.  Enjoy the myriad winding paths through dappled wood & glade, uphill & over stream. The sharp of eye may spot some of the lovely dryads hidden throughout the woods.

– Whithermere  About Land description

No Landing Point is set within the region, so the SLurl I’m giving here is quite arbitrary on my part. It will deliver you to a stone gazebo on the southern side of the region, sitting on a rocky shoulder of tall hills rising behind it, and overlooking the setting’s lake.

I selected the gazebo as it offers both a view across the setting to its northward extent, and the distinctive curl of land there almost forming an island in its own right rising from the waters on either side; and because it offers multiple routes of exploration.

For example, step out of the gazebo and follow the grassy trail downhill to the left, and there is a choice of stepping down to a little wharf at the lake’s edge or following the trail along the step bank of the lake about 5 metres above the water, as it leads the way eastwards to where another path passes by way of a little bridge into Sedany Woods, passing by way of hither moors.

Alongside of the trail leading down to the lake, a paved path also sets out from the gazebo, rising and turning gently to also follow the curve of the lake below. A stone dragon – one of many sculptures in stone or wood to be found throughout the region – marks a branch of the path, where steps climb up to a cliff-edge walk leading to what I’ll call dragon’s hill (if reasons which are pretty self-explanatory!).

Passing this, the paved footpath passes into the misty peace of Thither Wood, where visitors might dance around a fire to the woodland’s sounds and under the eyes of silent sentinels in a shaded clearing where plants glow with bioluminescence. Beyond the glade, the path continues on, turning towards the north and dropping down to become the route to the little bridge crossing to Sedany Woods, passing the grassy trail as it does so. Or, for those turning right as the path clears the trees of Thither Wood, it drops down to the region’s southern coast.

Head west from the gazebo, and another cliff-edge trail runs below the shoulder of “dragon’s hill”, passing steps cut into the rock to lead up to its promontory before dropping sharply down to a rock slab as it offers passage over a narrow channel to the sands at the edge of Mistwold, the island-like formation on the region’s north side.

Here there are multiple paths of exploration up and around this rocky swirl as it exudes a sense of ancient history and mystery, crowned as it is by standing stones and tall pines. Goats graze here, watched over by eagles overhead whilst water tumbles by way of falls and channel to reach the lake.

Two paths from Mistwold point the way east to where Sedany Woods may once again be reached, and explorations can thus continue, completely circling the region.

To call this region peaceful and mystical would e an understatement; the entire setting mix natural beauty with a sense of mystery and fable, that latter helped in part by the presence of dragons and the glowing plants and growths.

At the same time there is a the undeniable feel of magic and ancient (I will not say “pagan”, as that does not do justice to the depth of the feeling that might be evoked here) mystery. So much so, that in wandering the land and passing through the mist and trees, I would not have been surprised had I encountered the likes of Herne the Hunter. Indeed, and while the show itself dramatically relocated Herne’s place of residence, I did find myself listening to Clannad’s Legend, the soundtrack for the very excellent TV series Robin of Sherwood and its reimagining of the legend of Robin Hood.

With dryads to be found throughout and plenty of opportunities for appreciating the beauty of the region and for photography, Whithermere is well worth visiting, and my thanks to Cube for recommending it to me.

SLurl Details

Whithermere (rated Moderate)

With the start of a new year, I thought I’d take a trip to one of my favourite SL settings: Reality Escape, the Full private region held by Tripty (triptychlysl).

It’s a place I’ve appreciated over the years both for the way each iteration presents something new to appreciate whilst each carries forward motifs from Tripty’s original Books, Coffee and Chairs, Oh My! which I’d visited in 2023. I’ve been back some four times since then, and Reality Escape have never failed to feel like a safe and welcoming retreat.

For this iteration, the Landing Point sits in the south-western corner of the setting’s main island, where Tripty’s familiar greetings are etched into the boards of the Landing Point decking and can be seen on the sign facing the deck. The latter is a greeting I always find raises a smile – You Are About to Enter Someone Else’s Dream -, and which is joined by another: Blame it on My Gipsy Soul, a sentiment I can fully appreciate for the wanderlust it evokes.

From here, three routes of exploration present themselves to new arrivals. Two take the form of raised wooden walkways and the third a hop over a very narrow channel to a flat, grassy island, home to a bench “borrowed” from a waiting room. The first of the two walkways runs along the southern shore of the the island to the Reality Escape Coffee Shop, whilst the second winds northwards and turns a little inland to arrive at the Reality Escape reading nook.

The Coffee Shop is an open-air affair marked by Tripty’s familiar chair sculptures, the place made cosy by the ivy-hung trelliswork extending out from the cliff and ancient wall adjoining it at a right angle.

Another walkway here offers a route to the shingles close to the island’s edge and offering a further route onwards, watched over by the island’s Siamese ruler, sitting in his rather novel throne. Beyond the shingle, under an archway of chairs, the walkway continues up the island’s east coast. As it does so, it passes a summer house of unusual design offering a place of retreat.

For those who prefer to stay on the shingle path, this points the way – with the aid of stepping stones – to the crooked finger of another island as it points south and east, wooden decking running over the grass and around a firepit, offering another place for friends to gather.

The walk to the island’s bookshop also offers a way to a raised deck built out over the water, and guarded to one side by a further trellis line of Ivy, whilst below it sits something of a damp orchard. Up the hill, the reading nook is really more of an old tram repurposed as a place to enjoy books, perhaps in the Lewis Carroll-esque garden sitting behind the tram.

Beyond this, the walkway loops around westward to link-up with the route running on from the summer house. As it does so, steps lead down to a grass trail, a little muddy and wet in places, running out to north-pointing, low-lying headland. beyond an arch formed by an aged tree trunk, the path is bordered by candle-lit snowdrops as they form a candle-lit fairy spiral. Beyond these, another raised deck awaits, two pontoon rafts tethered to it. The latter perhaps invite people to take a dip in the water as they are watched over by a rather large goldfish enjoying the shade of a bunta tree which adds its own little sci-fi twist to the setting.

Tripty’s Reality Escape designs always presents setting rich in detail, and this version is no exception. There is much to be found and appreciated throughout – more than I’ve covered here (such as a little island hithertofore unmentioned in this piece and the various animals and wildfowl waiting to be found).

When exploring, I would recommend sticking with the region’s shared environment – although, as again is the case with Tripty’s work, the region does work very well with many other environment settings. Also, do make sure you have local sounds enabled for the fullest experience.

SLurl Details

• Reality Escape, rated Moderate