I usually spend my time writing contemporary fantasy stories for 9-12 year-old children, but sometimes it's fun to digress into other areas. One such area is where we have the red pindan.      

For some strange inexplicable reason, the red pindan beckons me to write. I love the landscape because of its glorious colours. The red with the various greens and the blue sky, the picture is priceless to the eye and makes you feel happy. It may sound far fetched, but I want to show with pictures and words how beautiful the red pindan really is.  

We have these amazing colours in our state of Western Australia, but you'll have to drive to get there. It probably takes you a whole day's drive up north before you see the beautiful region of the Pilbara and maybe one or two days more to get to the Kimberley. Those are perfect areas to see the red pindan.   

If you travel east, you will spend a whole day driving to get close to the red dirt. In around 10 hours, you will end up in the northern goldfields e.g. Laverton where the Outback Road, a brownish red dirt road, starts and continues all the way to Alice Springs.   

The landscape up north, and in the east, of the state is spectacular with colours and shapes the most beautiful I've come across. I can never get enough - especially where the turquoise ocean meets the red cliffs at Cape Leveque. How beautiful is that? Can you imagine?

You can search the net and find beautiful pictures of these places.    

The words, red pindan, refer to a semi-arid landscape consisting of scrubs, trees and grasses sustained by the red sandy dirt of the Pilbara and Kimberley areas in the north, but also in some inland desert areas of Western Australia. 

The colour combinations are almost unbelievable. The sandy dirt, in hues from red to rusty brown, is a colourful and unforgettable backdrop to the low-growing vegetation. Once you have seen it, you want to see more.  

The green stretches from light yellow-green of the Spinifex to the grey-green of the saltbush. Throw in some darker green of a sandalwood tree here and there, at least close to the Great Victoria Desert , and the almost blue-tinged leaves of the small gum trees and you will have the most fantastic setting. Wait, there is more. In spring, the landscape transforms into stunning carpets of the most amazing wildflowers. Add the golden sun and the bright blue sky and you may find it hard to resist some of the most magic patches of Western Australia.  

I would like to sit out there and write my stories, but unfortunately, it is not on. It is just too far away and not feasible. Instead, I write from home and dream myself away. Oh, yes, when I have the inclination, I might steal the time and go for short trips to enjoy the most amazing colours first hand. The colours are almost good enough to eat.  

I hope to add more photos and writing on the Red Pindan website as time allows.  

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