Articles written by Liz Sinclair

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About me - Liz Sinclair

I work as a freelance feature, travel and grant writer. I've written for The Australian, The Melbourne Age, The Big Issue, The Brunei Times, worldhum.com, Islands Magazine and others, including a web-based travel guide to Melbourne. I write regular feature

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Creative Writing > Poetry Poetry: New love: 2 of 162
Legato* There are symphonies inside you.Some woven tight as sails,Others gossamer light, breath expanding.Through each flows an anchoring tune,That divides, and wars, and ebbs, and flows,An octave's range between us. There are whole oceans to explore.No sooner is one mighty span of water crossed,Sails furled to rest upon a sa... More..
Creative Writing > Memoirs Memoirs: Traveling: 4 of 204
I was standing ankle deep in mud, on the corner of Phan Dinh Phung and Hung Vuong Streets, feeling a poor excuse for an adventure traveller. Five hours in Hue and already I had managed to misplace my tour group; worse, my guidebook was back at the hotel. I was lost and alone in Vietnam where I spoke exactly six words of the l... More..
Health & Fitness > Cold & Flu Foods to fight colds: 1 of 44
Autumn is here and winter is just around the corner. The shorter days and colder nights also signal the arrival of cold and flu season. Health experts advise that there are foods to eat and drink to help reduce the symptoms of these illnesses. The best ways to minimize the symptoms and duration of a cold, or the flu, is to re... More..
Other Get your neighbors together: 1 of 32
Neighborhoods have changed. They once consisted of people who shared family ties, grew up together, or worked for the same factory in town. Neighbors could rely on each other in times of crisis. They shared gossip, cups of tea, ballgames and cookouts. If someone went away, neighbors would collect their mail, water their garde... More..
Health & Fitness > Homeopathy Alternative uses for baking soda: 1 of 14
Baking soda has far more uses than just helping cakes and breads to rise. It can be used in general cooking to reduce acid or tenderize meat. Baking soda has disinfectant, antiseptic, deodorizing and anti-fungal properties that make it ideal for cleaning produce or food containers in the kitchen. Baking soda is also safe to u... More..
Creative Writing > Reflections Reflections: Using public transportation: 1 of 10
For me, riding the number 109 tram isn't just a daily routine; it's also an on-going love affair with Melbourne. Besides running the longest route in the tram network, the new, low-floored, wheel-chair accessible, pram-friendly vehicle, with its great, glass windows and huge, swiveling doors, hosts the diverse pageantry and d... More..
Arts & Humanities > Writing Tips Ideas for overcoming writer's block: 2 of 19
Writer's block, temporarily losing the ability to write, is usually a short-lived phenomenon. Most writers have experienced this condition at one time or another in their careers. Stendhal, F.Scott Fitzgerald, Samuel Coleridge and many other famous writers all suffered from it. Modern authors such as Zadie Smith (White Teeth)... More..
Travel > Australia & South Pacific Travel experiences: My stay in Bali: 1 of 5
The name Ubud comes from obat which is the Balinese word for herb, Lilir said. So it literally means 'place of herbs.' This area has always been a centre for healing. I had organised to meet Lilir on the main street in Ubud, busy with the roar of motorcycles and the beep-beep of horns. She led me up a steep concrete drive tha... More..
Creative Writing > Essays Essay: Walking partners and their stories: 1 of 5
Most days, in late afternoon, I surface from my writing, shut down the laptop, take a last look at the verdant green rice fields just behind my house in Bali, lock the door, and head down the narrow village street, complete with barking dogs, to collect my walking partners from their carers.They will have just finished their ... More..
Society & Lifestyle > African & Middle Eastern Culture The hijaab/ head scarf: 2 of 9
My friend Dian once asked me to put up a fellow journalist from Jakarta for two weeks as Dian had to go overseas. No problem, I said. I'll show her around Melbourne, where I live. She wears the hijab, said Dian. Hmm, problem, I thought. How am I going to talk to her? Everybody knows that women who wear the hijab are conservat... More..