Conquistador Puzzle Trail by Winston Cowie – Book Launch

Report from author:

Conquistador Puzzle Trail by New Zealand Author Winston Cowie will be launched at The Kumara Box in Dargaville, New Zealand on Saturday 11 July 2015.

Drop in between 1:30-5pm, grab a book, get it signed, and for those that RSVP and grab a book, a showing of David Sims and Winston Cowie's documentary 'Mystery at Midge Bay' will screen between 5-6pm. Details below.

Praised by both the Portuguese and Spanish Embassies to Australia and New Zealand, Conquistador Puzzle Trail is a comprehensive assessment of potential pre-Tasman Portuguese and Spanish discovery voyages to Australia and New Zealand. Conquistador Puzzle Trail is the new and current ‘go to’ international text on the subject that the Portuguese and / or Spanish may have discovered Australia and New Zealand. It also presents details of New Zealand’s ‘oldest’ shipwreck, a likely Dutch vessel.

Everybody has heard little tidbits about the Conquistador Puzzle whether it be about alleged caravels wrecked on Dargaville’s coast; ‘Spanish’ helmets being found and reburied on the Pouto Peninsula; oral tradition of sailors coming ashore and being massacred by Maori or Aborigines; pohutukawas on the far side of the world; or the Napier Broome Bay cannon or Mahogany ship in Australia, to name a few.

Check out the cover!

Conquistador Puzzle Trail takes the reader through each puzzle piece, puts the arguments for and against its antiquity to the reader, and encourages the reader to decide what part of the Conquistador Puzzle that piece forms.

Each puzzle piece is presented to you on its own merit; I explain how I came across it, what or who is the source of the puzzle piece, and let you decide where it fits into the theoretical framework. If a puzzle piece doesn’t fit, it doesn’t fit; I have not tried to twist a puzzle piece to fit with the theory. Each puzzle piece is what it is and means what it means.

All the pieces of this perplexing puzzle, however, should at the very least lead to the reader agreeing that a different theory does exist to that of the traditional discovery paradigm of New Zealand and Australia; that being that the Spanish and / or Portuguese may have been the first Europeans to discover New Zealand. And in my view, the Portuguese, most likely and on the balance of probabilities, discovered New Zealand and Australia between 1520 and 1524. And the Spanish may have also beat Abel Tasman between 1576-1578.

In saying that, it’s not what I think that is important, its what you, the public, thinks about the theory that is important. I’ve merely had a go at putting together the puzzle based on best available information. Have a read and form a view!

Author’s Note: The Embassy of Spain to New Zealand has been fantastic and their cooperation and collaboration has been gratefully received by the author. I feel incredibly proud to have the permission to include both the Embassy of Spain to New Zealand and the Spanish Organisation for International Cooperation on Development logos on my book.

Where can you get a copy?

And for those that can’t make the launch, Conquistador Puzzle Trail is available throughout New Zealand at the following great book stores. Many thanks to  Susan Holmes and the team at Bookreps NZ Ltd for doing such a fantastic job with distribution.

North island
Northland Paper Plus – Kerikeri Moran’s Bookshop – Dargaville Warkworth / Matakana Paper Plus – Warkworth The Village Bookshop – Matakana	Auckland Dear Reader – Grey Lynn Paper Plus – Howick Paper Plus – Newmarket Paper Plus – Ponsonby Take Note – Waiheke The Booklover – Milford / Takapuna Unity Books – Auckland Central	Bay of Plenty Paper Plus – Taradale Books A Plenty – Tauranga Paper Plus – Te Puke
Thames Carson’s Bookshop – Thames Waikato Penny’s Bookstore – Chartwell, Hamilton Taranaki Paper Plus – New Plymouth Paper Plus – Stratford Stead & Daughters – Whanganui	Central North Island Mcleods Booksellers – Rotorua Paper Plus – Taupo Paper Plus – Rotorua Central	Wellington / Lower North Island Marsden Bookstore – Karori, Wellington Unity Books – Wellington Victoria University  Bookcentre – Wellington Paper Plus – Kilbirnie, Wellington Almo Books – Carterton Paper Plus – Feilding Paper Plus – Levin Paper Plus – Lower Hutt Paper Plus – Masterton Paper Plus – Upper Hutt
South Island
Nelson Page & Blackmore – Nelson	Christchurch All Books New Zealand – Christchurch Paper Plus – Merivale Paper Plus – Rangiora Paper Plus – South City Picadilly Bookshop – Christchurch Scorpio Books – Christchurch Take Note – Kaiapoi Tower Junction – Christchurch University Bookshop – Canterbury	Otago / Southland Paper Plus – Balclutha Paper Plus – Dunedin Paper Plus – Gore Take Note Book City – Dunedin University Bookshop – Dunedin

For more details and my first video blog, please visit www.winstoncowie.com