TMAC Award Winners

2013

Winner: Black & White Photography - From Darkroom to Lightroom

Award Year: 
2013
Award Recipient: 
John Sylvester
Category Sponsor: 
Ontario Parks

Published in Outdoor Photography Canada, Spring/Summer 2013

Russian city of Ufa intrigues outside hockey arena

Award Year: 
2013
Award Recipient: 
Lucas Aykroyd
Category Sponsor: 
Travel Alberta

Published in Georgia Straight, February 27, 2013

To most Canadians, Ufa is best-known for Team Canada’s fourth-place finish at this year’s International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Hockey Championship. I was there as a journalist to cover the tournament, and I discovered many quirky dimensions to this Russian city of more than one million inhabitants, both inside and outside the rinks.

The 439-year-old capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan lies 14 time zones away from Vancouver and almost 1,200 kilometres east of Moscow, in the Ural Mountains. It’s an oil...

The Rainforest Café

Award Year: 
2013
Award Recipient: 
Charlene Rooke
Category Sponsor: 
Destination British Columbia

Published in Western Living, April 2013

Former Fairburn Farm chef Mara Jernigan has decamped to remotest Belize, where she’s cooking up an eco-tourism and culinary retreat for chocolate, coffee, rum and fly-fishing connoisseurs.

I'm at Willy Wonka’s jungle lair: a spice farm in the lush Belize rainforest, under a shady colonnade of pepper trees, with Mara Jernigan. “I’ve been a chef for 30 years and I’d never seen what some of these things look like, where they come from,” marvels Jernigan, one of a handful of foodies who brought the ...

Golfing With Mom - Lessons Above and Beyond Par

Award Year: 
2013
Award Recipient: 
Darcy Rhyno
Category Sponsor: 
Eaton Chelsea

Published in Next Avenue, September 16, 2012

When it comes to golf, I don’t know a divot from a hole in the ground. I'm a writer — but my mother, while not a great golfer, works on her game like it’s a job. At 72, she plays all winter in Florida and all summer at home in Nova Scotia, where I grew up.

So when I was offered a chance to go on a four-course golfing press trip around Cape Breton Island (that included the much-touted new Cabot Links), I had no choice but to swallow my game-related anxieties, say...

Eating the World's Rudest Clam

Award Year: 
2013
Award Recipient: 
Cinda Chavich
Category Sponsor: 
Ottawa Tourism

Published in Maclean's Magazine, August 3, 2013

Geoduck’s grotesque appearance may rob it of its rightful place as king of the sea

The big geoduck clam lying flaccid in the bottom of the shellfish tank at your local Asian grocery store may be a prized specimen, but even if you’re an adventurous cook, you may not be tempted to take it home to your kitchen. Maybe it’s the weird, wrinkly neck (called the siphon) protruding far beyond its oval shell, or the slimy-sounding name—pronounced “gooey-duck.” It looks rather rude, with a phallus-like bit that can reach...

Chypre-du-Nord: Karpas... jusqu'à la fin des terres!

Award Year: 
2013
Award Recipient: 
Yves Ouellet
Category Sponsor: 
Le Québec Maritime

Published in Le Soleil, October 13, 2012

Des vacances à Chypre-du-Nord ! Quelle drôle d’idée ! Visiter un pays qui n’en est pas un puisqu’aucun état, autre que la Turquie, ne le reconnait. Alors que la partie Sud (grecque) de l’île de Chypre accueille des touristes par millions, le Nord affiche un développement anémique et continue d’effrayer la plupart des voyageurs, sauf les Britanniques, qui ont fait de leur ancienne colonie un haut-lieu de villégiature, et les Turcs qui y sont chez eux.

Lorsqu’on observe la carte du nord de Chypre, on remarque trois pointes...

The world's most epic road trip

Award Year: 
2013
Award Recipient: 
Jody Robbins
Category Sponsor: 
Saskatchewan Tourism

Published in MSN Travel, July 2013

Be a brave traveller on the Karakoram Highway

The first thing that strikes me when wandering through the old town is the abundance of raw meat hanging outdoors on gigantic metal hooks. The second is the vast number of flies attracted to it. The butcher’s solution in this frontier town? Simply douse the beef in bug spray. Problem solved, and no extra charge for the marinade.

I’m in Kashgar, China’s westernmost city, about to embark on the world’s most epic road trip - the Karakoram Highway. Connecting China with Islamabad...

Panama City's charm lies beyond the canal

Award Year: 
2013
Award Recipient: 
Carolyn Ali

Published in Georgia Straight, Nov. 21, 2012 online, Nov. 22, 2012 in print

Want to see the Panama Canal? Here’s why it’s worth considering 
staying on dry land rather than cruising through on a big ship

Juan Carlos is giving us the hard sell. As our boat approaches the first lock of the Panama Canal, he stands at the bow with his camera in the area roped off for crew members only. Excited passengers press against the barrier, as if a rumour just broke that George Clooney had stepped onto the red carpet. But the attraction isn’t Juan...

Riding a camel in Wadi Rum led by a Bedouin

Award Year: 
2013
Award Recipient: 
Sandra Phinney
Category Sponsor: 
Ontario Parks

Published in Travel and Escape, May 28, 2013

Circle North

Award Year: 
2013
Award Recipient: 
Laurie Carter
Category Sponsor: 
Tourism Yukon

Published in Okanagan Life Magazine, Spring 2013

First Nations culture, fish, furs and gold rush fever—discover them all on this Northern BC tour. It’s just one option for exploring your own backyard in a province that’s bigger than Britain and France combined. Day trip or expedition, get out there and take a look.

Haida Gwaii

Shadows cast by the mellow evening light sharply defined the ridges, rolls and peaks to the west of the ferry landing at Skidegate on Graham Island. This is the largest and most northerly of the 150 some islands that...