New Zealand's finest travel writers have been honoured at the Cathay Pacific Travel Media Awards and Whitcoulls Travcom Travel Book Awards, organised by Travcom (New Zealand Travel Communicators) to celebrate excellence in travel writing and photography.New Zealand's finest travel writers have been honoured at the Cathay Pacific Travel Media Awards and Whitcoulls Travcom Travel Book Awards, organised by Travcom (New Zealand Travel Communicators) to celebrate excellence in travel writing and photography.Claire Harvey, senior writer for the New Zealand Herald, won the Cathay Pacific Travel Writer of the Year Award and Selwyn Parker won the fifth annual Whitcoulls Travcom Travel Book of the Year Award for Chasing the Chimney Sweep (Penguin NZ).

Wellington writer Peter Riordan received the runners-up prize for Strangers in My Sleeper (New Holland Publishers). Two Highly Commended certificates were awarded, firstly to Karen Goa for her book One Flat Coyote On the Centre Line (New Holland Publishers) and to Ian Robinson for his book You Must Die Once (Harper Collins.)

Auckland photographer and adventurer James Frankham took the Cathay Pacific Travel Photographer of the Year Award.

The Whitcoulls Travcom Travel Book of the Year Award was judged by three award-winning writers - Joanna Wane, deputy editor of Next, Robin Charteris, editor of the Otago Daily Times and Peter Calder, Travel Editor for the NZ Listener. All the judges were extremely impressed by the high standard of work.

Caroline Hendrie, assistant travel editor of The Times, judged all travel writing categories excluding New Travel Writer of the Year (judged by Auckland's Nicola Legat).

Hendrie said: "I really enjoyed reading the entries and it was interesting to compare them. I thought the general standard of writing was good, and there were lots of very good pieces. The ultimate test for a travel writer is perhaps finding something new to say on well-known places so writers on Vienna, Cuba, Berlin and Dublin for example had more of a challenge than most."

Click here for the full list of awards.

Image: Chasing the Chimney Sweep, winner of the fifth annual Whitcoulls Travcom Travel Book of the Year Award.