Jillaroo | Northwest Irukandji

Jillaroo State

Jillaroo State is a sparsely populated cluster of simulators located in the northwest of the Kingdom of Irukandji, a virtual continent in Second Life from 2007 to 2009.

The regions of Jillaroo began construction in early 2008 however the GFC hit just a few months later, and given that 90% of Irukandji’s population was American, most of the regions were trounced by early 2009.

Sadly, another tragedy struck at the same time – the great hard-drive crash of ’08 – and all but a few photographs of the state were lost forever. 😢

Note: if you are trying to visit the current Irukandji world, the landing sim is Arius on the DigiWorldz grid. The region is hypergrid enabled for easy teleportation from other Open Simulator virtual worlds. If you have the Firestorm viewer, use this link to teleport to Arius.

Irukandji Ministry of Heritage and Culture

History and culture

Jillaroo vs Irukandji

Technically – originally at least – Jillaroo was not actually part of Irukandji. It was a neighbouring self-sufficient continent in its own right.

Jillaroo was my attempt to create another version of Irukandji that would be more appealing to the average non-gay resident. I wanted to bring my regions to a mainstream audience.

It failed somewhat in its goal because apparently no one really cared. By mid-2008, virtual worlds were quite well established, people respected each other more, and the need for themed estates was not so great. New residents just settled wherever they wanted, some in Irukandji and some in Jillaroo.

In 2009, I merged the two estates and Jillaroo became just another state in the Kingdom of Irukandji.

Due to a major hard-drive crash around that time, few photographs remain of the simulators in Jillaroo.

Islands and seas of Jillaroo

Barramundi Bay

Barramundi Bay
  • Size: 6.5536 hectares
  • Grid: Second Life 2008
  • Use: Light Residential
  • Terrain: barramundi-bay080810

Barramundi Bay in Second Life was light residential, sharing its southern beach with the north shore of Jackaroo Island.

A long underwater section of the Trans Irukandji Causeway extends east-west from Captain Cook Reef to Tuvalu Straits.

Barramundi Bay was hand terraformed.

Captain Cook Reef

Captain Cook Reef, Jillaroo Irukandji 2008

Captain Cook Reef is a light residential sim which was popular with people seeking privacy in a remote hideaway.

The region was roughly 50-50 land and water. It featured a long Y-shaped spine of low hills running from north to south, with beaches on either side.

Housing parcels were offered on the eastern side of the hills and enjoy full occupancy.

In the east, a public tiki-style village gives a pleasant romantic feel to Captain Cook Reef, particularly at night.

Coolangatta

Coolangatta region, Jillaroo Irukandji 2008

The Coolangatta sim was part of Jillaroo State, in the north of the Irukandji Continent.

Its first landscape was as a central atoll in a bay, based on Upper Aboyo Passage. With so many regions already drawing on this design, I soon changed it into a flat atoll, based on Alantay Island, which had proved a popular format in the past.

However, the timing of Coolangatta was unfortunate. Around the time of its birth, Linden Labs, who owned Second Life, decided to suddenly increase their prices by 67%. At the same time, cut price developers on other parts of the grid had started selling land for free in some bizarre attempt to circumvent the increases by attracting lots of renters.

Coolangatta, unfortunately took the full brunt of all this. It was the first island on which I had to give land away in order to get renters.

Unsurprisingly, the island quickly filled with trailer trash, predominantly Australians and Americans, who turned my manicured landscapes into shit and got ridiculously angry about the smallest thing that didn’t go their way. Total haters. Then as a final nail in the coffin, along came the GFC.

So I shut down Coolangatta and a few others like it. There would be no more free land or discount islands.

A new economic climate had changed the way virtual estates could operate in Second Life, and I realised the dream was coming to an end. I began to downsize in order to keep the estate viable for as long as possible.

That’s all another story for another time, but the Coolangatta sim was the one that woke me up. I have no fond memories whatsoever of Coolangatta and thankfully no photographs survive.

Coraki Lagoons

Coraki Lagoons, Irukandji 2008

The region, Coraki Lagoons is a residential island in Jillaroo State in northwest Irukandji.

Coraki Lagoons was active during 2008 and was well populated during its time on the Second Life grid.

As well as being a significant residential sim, Coraki Lagoons was an important junction of the Trans Irukandji Causeway, connecting ‘old Irukandji’ via Byron Bay to northern Jillaroo via Tanawayo Bay, and to Kalamat State via Aquitaine Bay.

Other adjoining sims were Split Rock Mountain, Palu Island, Mantaray Shoals, Jackaroo Island, and Coolangatta.

Great Keppel Island

Great Keppel Island, Jillaroo State

Great Keppel Island is the western-most region in the Kingdom of Irukandji and part of Jillaroo State.

Terraforming is a direct mirror flip of the neighbouring Yeppoon Atolls sim. A single landowner leased both regions.

Only two islands adjoined Great Keppel Island. Northeast lay Tuvalu Straits, with Yeppoon Atolls immediately east.

Great Keppel Island takes its name from the real world island of the same name in Central Queensland, Australia.

The region’s life was unfortunately short and no photographs survive except the aerial map above.

Jackaroo Island

Jackaroo Island, Jillaroo State 2008

In its earliest guise, Jackaroo Island was capital of Jillaroo State in northwest Irukandji. When I decommissioned Jillaroo in late 2008, I kept Jackaroo Island and moved it north of Cabria Island in the far east of the estate.

It sat largely unused for several months until finally, in early 2009, it was renamed Cabria Landing and sold off to another estate.

Most people however, remember it as the central island of Jillaroo.

The design and layout of Jackaroo Island was based on the much earlier and very successful Alantay Island. The uptake of land was quite healthy, and it would be the last simulator on which I was able to charge a purchase price for parcels.

Jackaroo Island was well serviced by the Trans Irukandji Causeway, and a branch of the Odin River passed through it as well. The island also had a local Irukandji Info Centre and a satellite branch of Irukandji Police.

Regrettably, no photographs have yet surfaced of Jackaroo Island. If you happened to have visited there and took photos and wish to share them on this page, please let me know via the comment section below.

Mantaray Shoals

Mantaray Shoals Jillaroo 2008

Located in the far northwest of the Irukandji continent, Mantaray Shoals was part of Jillaroo State. The landscape was 100% original and terraformed by hand.

Mantaray Shoals was predominantly open sea with one large triangular land mass near the southwest corner. The islet contained two residential parcels.

The eastern shore of Mantaray Shoals formed the beach of neighbouring Coraki Lagoons. A terminus branch of the Trans Irukandji Causeway ran along the southern edge of Mantaray Shoals.

Tanawayo Bay

Tanawayo Bay, Jillaroo state
  • Size: 6.5536 hectares
  • Grid: Second Life 2008
  • Use: Light Residential
  • Terrain: tanawayo-bay080810

I really liked Tanawayo Bay and spent a lot of unnecessary time there fine tuning its terrain. Especially memorable is a technical underwater stretch of the Trans Irukandji Causeway which linked the central raised atoll to Coraki Lagoons and Jackaroo Island.

Other neighbouring regions were Barramundi Bay, Captain Cook Reef, Whitsunday Island, Coolangatta, Byron Bay, and Mantaray Shoals.

Tanawayo Bay was light residential. Three landholders from England and Mexico called the sim home, and it enjoyed 100% occupation throughout its life. Of all the 12 sims in Aquitaine, I remember Tanawayo Bay as my favourite.

Regrettably, thanks to ‘the great hard-drive crash of 08’, I have no photographs of Tanawayo Bay except the aerial map above.

Tuvalu Straits

Tuvalu Straits, Irukandji
  • Size: 6.5536 hectares
  • Grid: Second Life 2008
  • Use: Light Residential
  • Terrain: tuvalu-straits080810

Tuvalu Straits was the north-western-most simulator on the Irukandji Continent.

I had originally intended to give Tuvalu Straits a mirrored companion sim to the immediate west, but demand in the region petered out when the GFC struck so it never eventuated. Regardless, Tuvalu Straits was a successful island and enjoyed 100% occupancy.

Terraforming on Tuvalu Straits was done by hand, based on an initial template copied from Upper Aboyo Passage, then rotated 90 degrees.

It appears that no photographs of Tuvalu Straits have survived. It was however a well-photographed island by locals and tourists, so I hope that some pictures surface in the future.

Whitsunday Island

Whitsunday Island, Jillaroo

Whitsunday Island was a residential sim in northern Irukandji. Its terrain was based on the popular template I created for Upper Aboyo Passage a year earlier.

During its life, Whitsunday Island enjoyed 100% occupancy, with a Mexican landholder of long standing renting the entire island for himself and his extended family. He created a large palatial estate there which was very impressive.

The Trans Irukandji Causeway followed the crescent shaped hills that encircled the estate, connecting Whitsunday Island with the neighbouring regions, Captain Cook Reef and Coolangatta. Only one other region adjoined Whitsunday Island, which was Tanawayo Bay, only accessible by sea.

Yeppoon Atolls

Yeppoon Atolls, Irukandji 2008
  • Size: 6.5536 hectares
  • Grid: Second Life 2008
  • Use: Light Residential
  • Terrain: yeppoon-atolls080810

Located in the far northwest of Irukandji, the light-residential region of Yeppoon Atolls forms part of Jillaroo State.

While not immediately evident, the landscaping for Yeppoon Atolls actually draws heavily upon Grand Irukandji, with large canals to the east and north, overshadowed by a tall steep mountain.

A single landholder leased most of the island during its lifetime until it was decommissioned in late 2008.

The simulator, Yeppoon Atolls, takes its name from the seaside town of Yeppoon in Central Queensland AU where I spent part of my childhood.

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