It has been a couple of months since the launch of my latest book Conquistador Puzzle Trail and in that time I have received some really good feedback from the public.

I have written two open letters, one to New Zealand’s national museum, Te Papa, in respect of the iron helmet in their collection, and the theories in respect of it (click here); and the second to the New Zealand Ministry of Culture and Heritage in respect of their current descriptions of New Zealand discovery history (click here).

I am grateful to both Te Papa and the New Zealand Ministry of Culture and Heritage for responding to me and stating that in time, they will review their current descriptions on these genres. Thank you both for taking the time to consider the hypothesis that New Zealand and Australia were most probably discovered by the Portuguese, and that the Spanish may have also voyaged to New Zealand pre Tasman.

I have also liaised with the New Zealand History Teachers Association in respect of Conquistador Puzzle Trail, and am pleased that they appear open to the theory, publishing an article on their website, for New Zealand history teachers to consider alternatives to New Zealand and Australia’s current discovery paradigm.

This article is available here.

My feeling is that the stigma that for the past 30 years has muddied the thinking around this theory is a thing of the past. We can now have a serious conversation about the very tenable theory – a theory that has been taken seriously by top historians and cartographers over the past 228 years – that theory being that New Zealand and Australia were most probably discovered by the Portuguese, and that the Spanish may have also voyaged to New Zealand pre-Tasman.

And it appears that people and New Zealand’s historical organisations are open to the korero which is great – but in saying that, it’s not what I think that is important, it’s what you, the public, thinks. I’ve merely had a go at putting together the puzzle based on best available information.

So let’s see.

What’s your view based on best available information?

Te hei mauri ora.

And a massive congratulations to the All Blacks. You were superb.

Winston Cowie

p.s I received some mail recently. With a Spanish address on it, I didn’t know what to expect. When I opened it, I grinned from ear to ear. Inside the box was a La Coruna police hat that had been gifted to me two years earlier when I had travelled to La Coruna to date the tree, and also at the same time gift the magnificent greenstone taonga to the tree that Kerry Strongman had kindly given as a koha. Click here for more details. My good Spanish friend, Juan Pineiro, had rediscovered the hat soon after receiving a copy of Conquistador Puzzle Trail. And so it, arrived, a treasured momento of that research trip. Many thanks La Coruna and Juan!