Travel book: New Zealand Landscapes

New Zealand Landscapes: Northland to Antarctica by Grant Sheehan (with music by Rhian Sheehan). Photo / Supplied

New Zealand Landscapes: Northland to Antarctica
by Grant Sheehan (with music by Rhian Sheehan)
Phantom House, $49.94

This book was honoured as the best pictorial book in this year's Cathay Pacific Travel Media Awards and it's easy to see why.

Grant Sheehan's pictures are superb but what makes this book really special is the fact that they show a marvellous mix of landscapes - some familiar, most from well off the usual photographic track - which highlight what a diversely beautiful country this is.

Even the photographers I asked to offer some expert comment - usually fairly dismissive of such books - agreed the photos were "pretty good" . And to an amateur snapper like me some of the pictures are simply awe-inspiring.

To comment on the music I turned to entertainment writer Scott Kara who loved it, commenting: "Rhian Sheehan takes ambient music to a higher level as he brings together glacial movements of sound, beautiful soaring drones, and the noise of rain and breaking waves to create a unique sonic landscape."

The combination of Grant's photos and Rian's music paints a beautiful and evocative portrait of our landscape.