Tag: Exploring Second Life 2026

Earlier in the week, I caught sight of Bambi’s (NorahBrent) Missing Melody amidst the various Halloween destinations in the (at the time of writing) Recently Added section of the Destination Guide.

Given I’m not an overly great fan of Halloween (as people have likely noticed!) and prior to my visit back in May 2026 it had been three years since I’d dropped into the region, I thought I would bounce over and see what’s going on.

For autumn 2026, Bambi once again provides a quite small setting for Missing Melody, making it ideal for a casual, quiet visit whilst leaving plenty for room for Mirai Melody as it remains seated on its sky platform in all its iridescent bustle – a place I visited back in 2024.

Given that we’re now into what can be a frantic part of the year – Thanksgiving has just taken place in Canada, Halloween is everywhere, November 5th beckons in the UK with US Thanksgiving not far behind, autumn celebrations in Japan and so on and so forth – and of course there’s the end of the year looming on the horizon with all that it involves – dropping into somewhere in which to catch one’s breath can be something of the godsend.

And that is exactly what is offered here: a timeless setting of two halves faintly European in looks, a broad canal-like body of water spanned by a single bridge separating them.

To one side is a cosy parade of little shops which espouse that European feel, all of them sitting on cobbles themselves raised above the water by a broad deck. Here can be found the familiar in the form of the Oh Deer Café in a new design – a staple of Bambi’s Missing Melody howsoever it is dressed, and a reminder of both Bambi’s brand (her store also sits high over Missing Melody) and of her former region which once stood under the same name.

Also along this row of shops is a little touch of Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amélie, a stirring of humour in the local bookstore’s name and, in keeping with the seasonal trends common to the end-of-year: a timeless toy shop with a promise of gifts and Christmas, and a rather spooky-ish store next door.

Across the water and bridge is a small park where the grass has grown beyond a summer’s length ideal for picnics and both cobbles and street lamps guide the way to a pavilion awaiting the arrival of musicians.

Caught under a heavy autumn downpour, lightning dancing around the horizon, this is nevertheless something of a relaxed, almost sleepy setting in which the dour sky might encourage visitors to make a dive for the nearest doorway on arrival just to get out of the rain, and then linger in comfort with no need to hurry onwards.

And that’s perfectly fine: pretty much every shop along the parade having something to peruse inside, whilst the Oh Deer is simply sublime in its homeliness – even if there is one feline occupant determined to get up to mischief – or maybe just doesn’t like plants…

However, those who do venture out into the rain will be rewarded, because – as is always the case with Missing Melody – there are a lot to be discovered in terms of detail within the setting, together with  opportunities  of photography.

Just before the bridge, a carousel turns slowly, offering rides to those so inclined, whilst on the bridge respite from the rain can be found – to some degree – with a warming cup of freshly brewed coffee and / or a good wholesome sandwich (or at least, a bread roll or two!).

Along the path leading to the pavilion are details aplenty, from a newspaper headline well in keeping with the weather, through to the (hopefully not abandoned) puppy in his carrier bag complete with a reminder that puppies need regular feeding(!), and more.

Oh, and do mind the red squirrels skittering about on the cobbles – they might not be considered an endangered species (outside of the UK, at least), but they are protected, so please do try to avoid stepping on them!

Benches along the cobbles offer outdoor seating – although the rain can make clicking on them to do so a little difficult – but then, rain does tend to make sitting outside a little difficult – or at least unpleasant, if not suitably dressed – at the best of times. But couples can at least enjoy a cuddle or two!

Should the rain prove a little too much – don’t forget you can also visit Mirai Melody up in the sky.

Slurl Details

• Missing Melody (rated General)
• Mirai Melody
• Oh Deer Store

Sharon Hinterland dropped me a note suggesting I might want to hop over to The Cursed Coast, a Full private region leveraging the additional Land Capacity available from Linden Lab.

It is a design by Sia Aurora (Fushsia) with the support of Tricia Farella, and offers a curiously engaging mix of themes and opportunities with it.

Probably the best short-form way to describe the setting is via Sia’s own description:

The Cursed Coast is a mysterious tropical island where ancient ruins, pirate wrecks, hidden caves, and forgotten legends lie beneath a dense jungle canopy. Explore crumbling temples, haunted shores, secret passages, and dangerous wilderness as you uncover the island’s mysteries, solve puzzles, and discover treasures left behind by those who came before—and perhaps learn why so few ever escaped. 

This is a place mixing piratical going-on from great sailing ships and walking the plank, to Victorian-style (and slightly Jules Vernian) underwater exploration, dollops of humour, Western style horse riding  – and even an touch of hang gliding and zip line riding!

And if you think all that sounds a right mash-up, you’d be absolutely right; and I haven’t (until now) even mentioned the chance to play dress-up and visit a museum! BUT – and it is a big but – it all works: Cursed Coast is an enjoyable and vey photogenic visit.

Before getting into some of the details, I would not a couple of things: the first is that at the time of my visit Sia was busy smoothing off some rough edges and still adding bits and pieces – so you might encounter one or two new or different elements to me; that’s all to the good.

The second is that the default Shared Environment for the setting is that of dusk, and the lighting had been set-up to reflect that. However, the region lends itself to a wide range of EEP settings (as evidenced in its Flickr group), and I leant more into using my own settings during my visit.

The setting is built around a tropical island and the core theme of the setting focuses on the so-called Golden Age of Piracy, which ran roughly from the mid-1600s through to around the mid-1700s.

This saw pirates and privateers (not the same thing although the latter often committed acts of piracy in their, uh, “spare time”) operating around many of the seas and oceans of the world, with pirates from European nations particularly active in the Caribbean, where they were often referred to as buccaneers.

The Landing Point sits to the north-east of the island above the golden sands of a beach sweeping out from a broad, deep bay. An information giver provides notes on the setting, whilst a board-mounted map highlights key points around the island – hover your mouse over a location to teleport directly to it if you wish, or just touch any other part of the map to receive a copy as a wearable HUD – although you may need to resize it to read the annotations clearly.

Also available at the Landing Point are some pirate trinkets you can use to help to kit yourself out (more bits can be found in a sunken wreck) – and visitors can explore dressed for the part, if they wish.

Beyond the Landing Point there is much to explore. The big bay is an obvious destination. It is here that Rapscallion’s Revenge lay anchored. I’ve no idea if the name is an intentional reference to the EP of the same name by Dave Seaman, I’ve no idea. However, the ship – one of Lia Woodget’s excellent Black Spot vessels – can be reached via teleport.

It is on one side of the bay that things turn somewhat Victorian: deep sea divers are getting ready to plumb the depths of the bay and join one of their colleagues exploring the wrecks and corals beneath the waves whilst keeping a wary eye on the local sharks and ignoring the pirates up on the surface. The dock used by the divers also features a mini sub Jules Verne would likely have found pleasing, and visitors can take it on a dive.

I don’t want to say too much about what else lies in wait – the map gives fair hints, but the fun is in exploring – particularly finding one’s way down into what I’ll call the Carousing Cavern (you’ll see why when you find one of the ways into it!) or to Mama Zafira and her swamp. The key thing is to follow the paths and keep your eyes open – there are lots of details to take in, including the often hidden entrances to the caves, caverns and the swamp.

There are also plenty of places with people can simply sit back and relax and a fair number of natural beauty spots to be appreciated, all of which can be reached following the pathways around the island.  Oh, and do watch out for the occasional blazing boulder, kindly spat into a ballistic trajectory by one of the local volcanoes and which follow the old adage of what goes up…

One thing I will mention is the Pirate’s Museum. Located up in the sky, and also accessed via a teleport doorway just outside the palisades of one of the island’s villages, this provides information on many of the pirates of the Golden Age, including John “Calico Jack” Rackham, whom legend would have it first designed and flew the infamous skull and crossbones “Jolly Roger” flag (although the legend in this case dates all the way back to 1959 and the novelist and playwright Hans Leip – perhaps better known in some circles for writing the poem / song Lili Marleen!).

Also included in the museum (among others) are Anne Bonny and Mary Read, who both reportedly sailed with Rackham (yes, piracy was not an exclusively male pursuit!), Henry “Long Ben” Every, a Royal Navy servicemen who turned privateer / buccaneer prior to switching to outright piracy, François l’Olonnais (Jean-David Nau, the “Flail of the Spanish” (the Spanish were the common target for both English and French pirates) and – of course – Edward Teach.

For those who like quests and the like, Sia and her team are planning a series of activities and events within the setting, whilst those who find their way to Mama Zafira in her cabin can touch her to be given a first quest – find the ingredients for a potion that “may help keep you alive in the caves on the far side of the island”!

All in all, The Cursed Coats is very well done and a fun visit. Some may find the inclusion of so many static characters not to their liking – but I like the way they add to the character of the setting and offer little vignettes for us to build stories around. Oh, and the Pie Rates mentioned in the title of this piece? Check below, courtesy of Sia 🙂 .

My thanks to Sharon for dropping me a line about The Cursed Coast and to Sia for chatting with me whilst I explored.

 Slurl Details

Retropolis is rated Moderate

• The Cursed Coast Landing Point
• The Pirate Museum

Many are likely familiar with the historic Gunpowder Plot of 1605, the unsuccessful attempted regicide against King James VI of Scotland and I of England by a group of English Catholics. Their plan was to blow up the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament on November 5th, killing not only the king, but many of his family and household, and many of the Protestant leaders of England.

The plot – and the broader attempt to turn the nation back to Catholicism – failed, and those behind it were mostly executed or killed. However, one year after the attempt, November 5th became a “day of thanksgiving” for the survival of the king.

And so a tradition was born, in time the day becoming known as Guy Fawkes Day, and moved away from the original theme of thanksgiving to commemorating the failure of what was essentially an attempted revolution through bonfires, fireworks and (generally) “the burning of the Guy”, and which today is something of a cultural event in which its underpinning reason might not even be considered in favour of fireworks and fun.

But who exactly, was Guy Fawkes? There has been a lot of myth built up around him – he wasn’t, for example the leader of the plotters as some tend to believe. The Guy Fawkes Exhibition sets out to provide the facts behind Fawkes, the plot, his role within it, and the life and strange historical echoes surrounding the actual leader of the plot.

Small in size but rich information, The Guy Fawkes Exhibition is by Kat Kassner. Set within a space dressed to represent London of the 1600s, it in an immersive and interactive installation presented within a large Tudor-style building, using both via IM and on information boards. When visiting, do make sure your viewer is set to use the Shared Environment and you have local sounds enabled.

On arrival, visitors are invited to touch a figure of Guy to hear a summary of his birth and dead details, prior to entering the Tudor house. Here, on the ground floor is chat-driven boards telling the story of Guy Fawkes life as it relates to the Gunpowder Plot – or Jesuit Treason as it was also historically called – click a board to receive info in chat, with additional information also presented in written form on the floor above.

The mid level of the house also provides information on the strategic ring leader of the plot, Sir Robert Catesby, and it is here visitors can learn a rather strange modern-day link directly back to the plotters and the crown – both through the same person.

Above this lies a third floor where people are encouraged to take photos and submit them for display in the gallery (photo ops can be had anywhere in the installation). Across the street from the house is also a little fun souvenir shop where you can buy your own Guy or Sir Robert, among other things. Oh, and do be prepared for some of the local effects. The story of Guy Fawkes, in some ways wouldn’t be complete without some sort of kaboom 🙂  .

Despite its small size, The Guy Fawkes installation is nicely put together and extremely information without being heavy, making it an enjoyable visit. So all I’ll add in closing is the famous lines:

Remember, remember, the 5th of November
The Gunpowder Treason and plot;
I know of no reason why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.

Slurl Details

• The Guy Fawkes Exhibition (Infini, rated Moderate)