NorderNey, Heaven Scent (Flickr)

I tend to visit places around SL in bursts. By that I mean I’ll visit five or six at a time, take notes, grab snapshots and then settle down to write about them. This inevitably means the order in which they appear in my Exploring Second Life series can be haphazard, particularly if I find somewhere which demands I write about it right now.

Sometimes it also means that places wind-up as a folder of snapshots and a set of notes sitting on the computer waiting their turn because I’ve *cough* actually let them slip my mind as I bounce around. This doesn’t often happen, but it did happen with NorderNey, Jacky Macpherson’s beautifully pastoral setting on her region of Heaven Scent – and for which she has my sincere apologies!

NorderNey, Heaven Scent (Flickr)

NorderNey is another of those evocative regions in which one can easily feel at home despite never having visited before. It brings together rural and coastal elements in a perfect blend of land and sea that, while it lacks any form of sim surround, still suggests it sits on a stretch of temperate coastline somewhere in the world; a place where the soil is still rich enough for a golden crop of wheat to be grown even as it slowly gives way to sandy shores and the sea beyond.

Two houses occupy the land, almost diagonally opposite one another. From the larger of these, situated next to the landing point, unpaved tracks offer visitors two routes by which to explore the island, one linking the house to the nearby lighthouse and the beach beyond it; the other winding “inland”, along what could easily be a river bank, and past that field of wheat.

NorderNey, Heaven Scent (Flickr)

This is a place which should be explored with local sounds turned on, as Jacky has added a sound scape which perfectly matches the setting, giving added depth to the surroundings as one explores. Close to the coast, the sound of waves breaking against the sand and rocks can be heard. Further inland, birds and wildlife sing, chirp and call; towards the northeast side of the island, and the second house, the wind can be heard sighing through the tall grasses and around and between the rocks and trees, while overhead and across the island, gulls cry as they circle on the updrafts.

NorderNey, Heaven Scent (Flickr)

That NorderNey is a photographer’s delight goes without saying – as many who have visited an blogged about it before me have proven. So to is it a delight for those who want to simply wander or sit and forget their troubles or spend a little time in the peaceful company of a friend or two; places to sit and share can be found right across the region, on jetties, alongside houses, on the beaches, in the shade of the trees – even in one of the many rowing a sail boats moored around the island.

NorderNey, Heaven Scent (Flickr)

When I first visited NorderNey, I happened to be playing to J.S. Bach on the stereo. Given that sheep are grazing around the lighthouse on the island, the piece I happened to be listening to seemed a tad serendipitous, so I’m going to close with it here.

Related Links