Lazy

Somewhere in November my winter mood starts to become active, wanting snow and ice and picture perfect views in RL and SL. The RL experience of winter has become a rare, ermm . . . gacha. I cannot remember to have had a true winter like I used to have as a kid. Sad, because we all know why. In Second Life winter never is away however. In the destination guide you will find plenty beautifully made places and many other bloggers have covered them all I am sure. I actually never really blog sims, not so good at that, but today I feel like doing so. It does mean I have to confess I was too lazy to create my own winter at my own sim, because the reason I am covering a sim in this blog has to do with renting a winter home elsewhere. I chose Northern Shore as my winter residence. A really beautifully created sim by the super talented Elvira Kytori. She is my favourite sim designer and has a rental system I also like. You have full rights over windlight, setting your own group and music stream and all that kind of things. I never like to be restricted in that and having to ask a manager to do that for me, especially because I tend to change it regularly. Also no ugly rental object like these meters at some wall outside and a sim wide design which gives you the look and feel of living at a complete sim of your own. No artificial borders so to speak.

Northern Shore

Elvira Kytori is the owner of White Dunes Estate, which started in 2012. She since then has created 14 sims, all with their own different atmosphere. Take a look at her picks to see them all. Northern Shore is inspired by the Bohuslän skärgård in West Sweden, an archipelago with many cities and groups of small islands along the coast. Northern Shore depicts a bustling fishing port capturing the essence of the idyllic islands. I never have been in Sweden (yet), but it is on my to do list. The Scandinavian nature has a big attraction somehow. In general all nature with an unspoilt character, space and views, work like a magnet on me. And I really do not know why, but somehow the United Kingdom and Scandinavia always make me feel at home where it comes to the landscape and feeling happy. If I would have the opportunity to live in a country side based house there, wow, only ask me once and I will move without any regrets. Preferably no one else nearby ofc. Hermits stay hermits after all. It probably will stay a dream, but in Second Life I can create the dream to be a bit more true. So yes, I started to rent a house in Sweden for the time being. Take a look at the link below. I think the sim is done remarkably well and really has the look and feel of the real life region.

Bohuslan Skärgård

Visiting

Northern Shore has 11 rentals, from small to big. But a big part of the sim is open for public as well. You will find a cozy café, a shop, a dock, 2 little islands with port houses on them, and of course the lake itself with its frozen surface allowing you to skate. Everything is decorated in style with a lot of attention to detail and close to RL. And at the moment there is snow, a lot. It may cause you to need some time to rez. Take a few minutes if needed, to make the grey around you become actual snow. It can be hard to select seats and such, so maybe just derender a snow part if needed. It won’t harm your view too much. It is a bit laggy at Northern Shore, but when you take some time to let all materialise first, it should work. Do activate the region windlight please as well. It makes or breaks your experience dramatically. I mean, there can be many nice windlights that give a nice atmosphere of course, but the one especially made for Northern Shore is one you should not miss either. It was made for a reason, right? To add to your experience. Northern Shore also represents the RL surroundings of Elvira, who is Swedish herself. Until so far the sim is seasonal, meaning it will transform into a spring/summer version later this year again. Elvira clearly is less lazy than I am . . .

P.S. Elvira is still busy importing the settings for the newest viewers with EEP. Until that process has finished it is possible you do not see the correct windlight. I myself still am in the viewer before EEP and see it in its original way, as can be seen in the slideshow I also added in this blog. The cover picture I adjusted for the occasion, just for fun.

Whales?

Nope, there are no whales at Northern shore. Yet it makes you think of them. This is because of the presence of a stunningly beautiful sound, all over the sim. It is the sound of the frozen lake responding on temperature differences. Those differences cause the ice to make a sound that to me resembles the singing of whales. It is very very very captivating. Gives you the idea to be into a far away area where nature still is alive and talking to you. It is a real existing phenomena by the way. You can read more on it below. In the article I share the sound is compared to Star Wars. My comparison is more poetic I think ; ) Anyway, please, activate your sound! Summarising all: highly recommended place to visit and/or rent ; ) And no, I do not blog this because Elvira is a friend of mine. I only blog what I really like and what I choose to blog myself. I am not paid or granted privileges of any kind. Also would never accept that or want that. It would make me a commercial blogger and I reeeeeally dislike that ^^

Singing Ice
The Verge

Impressions

I leave you 2 impressions of the region. One is a RL footage about the Bohusläns skärgård. One is a SL footage, with pictures I made and with the sound you also can hear at the sim. The last part of the photos shows my own place at Northern Shore, called Grankullen.