So I've taken a short trip to the #
OrkneyIslands,
Eday, to be more specific.
Here's a panoramic view of the #
sim if your browser can display images that are 8192 pixels wide. The description on OpenSimWorld already warned me, "Remote island in the Scottish Orkneys, Wet weather gear essential. No sunbathing! It frightens the sheep!"
I've heeded that warning. Here is what I wore:
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Jacket and skirt: mesh and texture by Klarabella Klaramell, combined by me
Rubber boots: Klarabella Klaramell
Top: Linda Kellie
Umbrella: part of Taarna Welles' Becky Towly Steampunk Outfit
Leggings: part of Otto von Otter's Oma outfit
What you can't see are the knit socks by Onanika Honi/Ona Moda and the underwear by Linda Kellie.
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When you teleport onto the sim, you land in front of the pub and the bed & breakfast in Eday Town. The pub, by the way, is ready for parties and other events right now already.
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I guess the actual landing should be on the neighbouring sim Eday Landing with one of the island's several run-down harbours which is located in the northwest, so I'll start there. The only way to get here is by boat because there isn't even an airfield.
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The island is full of weathered buildings, weathered walls, weathered streets and paths, weathered fences, weathered boats, weathered everything. Even the sheep seem weathered.
Also, the island is rather big, not as big as
real-life Eday even though #
OpenSim would make that possible, but still big. However, you can rent (or rather borrow) bicycles in various places of the island. One is standing in front of the pub, a few more are nearby in Eday Town at a bike rental, another bike rental is at the harbour near the border to Eday Landing.
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I didn't borrow a bike. I've made the mistake of wearing a skirt because I couldn't find any jeans that I could wear with those rubber boots, and all bikes on the island are men's bikes. Jupiter asked me if I was serious with wearing a skirt to Orkney. I told him this isn't exactly a summer skirt. I'd be wearing leggings underneath it. And besides, Scottish men wear kilts that are even shorter than my skirt. Without leggings. Commando even, according to rumours.
Nonetheless, if you want to visit Eday, and you aren't too keen on walking everywhere, don't wear a skirt or a dress. Wear jeans instead. That makes riding a bike easier. Combine them with sufficiently weather-proof shoes or rather boots and a warm jacket or coat. And don't mind the rain that tends to fall here and there unless you can ride a bike while holding an umbrella in one hand.
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Seriously, wear something warm because the weather can get really nasty.
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As for accommodation, unless you've been invited to stay with an islander, all there is is the youth hostel which is a few minutes of walking to the east of the aforementioned harbour. The bed & breakfast next to the pub is still closed.
The youth hostel is the first one of its kind I've come across on the Hypergrid, but it's very minimal. There's only one dorm room for ten and one bathroom, so both are unisex. The bathroom lacks a shower, but it does have three washing machines and a tampon and condom dispenser which, I guess, makes a whole lot of sense if you think about it. Unfortunately, the toilets seemed not to work. I guess at least the self-service kitchen does, for when I visited the youth hostel, it was freshly stocked with even French wine. I've never had wine at a youth hostel.
Real Eday has a hostel, too, by the way.
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One of the island's several small and not so small beaches is right below the youth hostel. Now, I absolutely love beaches. But even I wouldn't put on a bathing suit and go swimming on a pebble beach like this one and especially in a chilly, windy, rainy climate like the one here. And no, not without a bathing suit either. This island is General-rated.
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Depending on which path you take from the harbour to the youth hostel, you may walk along the island's biggest beach. I still didn't feel like taking a dip. At least the cliff shields it from southwestern winds. Real-life Eday does have sand beaches, by the way, but those would feel out of place here.
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There's only one small town on the island, Eday Town, which you can reach by hiking or biking along the asphalt roads. Now, Kirkwall it isn't, but it offers you just about everything you may need.
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This starts with a bike rental, a police station...
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...then there is a post office, a bakery that also sells fruit, vegetables and ready-made microwaveable haggis (I'm not kidding), a butchery...
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...MacLeod's Scottish Shop that can even make bagpipes according to the sign...
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...and a seafood shop on one of the streets down to the harbour, Mill Bay Quay.
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The latter is every bit as weathered as everything else on the island. If the fishing boat hadn't been there, I would have expected this harbour to be abandoned. But everything has to be transported to the island by boat, fishing boats seem to be just about the biggest vessels that can land here, and there's that seafood shop a minute of walking from the harbour. As hard to believe as it may be, but this rusty, miserable thing to the right is actually operational.
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Right next to the harbour, separated from it by a rock wall, is another tiny beach, the only one close enough to the town. The townspeople may go swimming here, but probably even they wouldn't right now. As for myself...
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I eventually went into the water calf-deep. Good thing I had those rubber boots on.
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Last but not least, northwest of Eday Town, there is Setter Stone House, the biggest building on the island. When I was there, it was empty. Still, I had enough common sense to take my boots off before entering.
Eday is gorgeous to behold in its own way. Still, I was glad to be back home where it was warmer.
(NB: I've cheated with the EEP settings to make the sky match the weather.)#
OpenSimulator #
Metaverse #
VirtualWorlds #
VirtualTravel
