Winston Cowie
Winston Cowie (LLB, MSc (Oxon), FRGS) is a New Zealand-born author, marine conservationist, travel writer, and adventurer whose life and work span continents, cultures, and disciplines. A former lawyer who chose to pursue a different path, Cowie has built a career around exploration, environmental protection, historical investigation, and storytelling. Educated at the University of Oxford, he has worked across New Zealand, the Arabian Peninsula, and Antarctica, combining professional expertise in marine conservation with a lifelong fascination for the natural world, human history, and the extraordinary experiences that shape our lives.
His writing reflects the breadth of his experiences. Moving between historical research, fiction, and autobiographical adventure, Cowie explores the relationships between people, places, cultures, and the environments they inhabit. Whether investigating the possibility of early Iberian voyages to New Zealand, bringing the country's nineteenth-century conflicts to life through historical fiction, or recounting his own adventures from New Zealand to the Arabian Peninsula, his work is united by a spirit of curiosity and a determination to look beyond the familiar.
Cowie wrote Kiwi to the Kingdoms: New Zealand to Blue Arabia, Conquistador Puzzle Trail, Nueva Zelanda, and the historical fiction novel A Flame Flickers in the Darkness, later published as two ebook volumes, Greenstone Trail and Flames Flicker. Across these works, he invites readers to reconsider established narratives, discover unfamiliar histories, and embrace the possibilities that emerge when curiosity becomes a way of life.
Kiwi to the Kingdoms: From New Zealand to Blue Arabia
Published by SLKY Worldwide in 2026, Kiwi to the Kingdoms: New Zealand to Blue Arabia represents a deeply personal expression of Cowie's adventurous philosophy. Part travel memoir, part personal reflection, and part exploration of cultural encounters, the book traces his journey from New Zealand's rural landscapes and rugged coastlines to the Arabian Peninsula's deserts, mountains, and seas.
Raised in rural New Zealand, Cowie developed an early appreciation for the ocean, sport, and the natural environment. These formative influences would eventually shape both his professional career and his approach to life. Although he initially qualified as a lawyer, he came to recognise that the conventional corporate path was not the direction he wanted to follow. A seemingly ordinary experience aboard his wooden yacht a cold shower that prompted a moment of reflection became a catalyst for reconsidering his future.
That decision led him toward further study at the University of Oxford and, ultimately, a career in marine conservation. It also opened the door to a life of exploration, taking him across more than fifty countries and all seven continents.
For approximately sixteen years, Cowie has lived and worked across the Kingdoms of Arabia, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Qatar. His experiences in the region include marine conservation initiatives, sailing traditional dhows, meeting diverse communities, and exploring landscapes that range from remote coastlines to vast desert interiors.
In Kiwi to the Kingdoms, these experiences become part of a broader reflection on the choices people make, the risks they take, and the importance of remaining open to unexpected opportunities. Cowie recounts surviving six close calls in his early twenties and explains how they shaped his determination to live with purpose, resilience, and an adventurous spirit.
The memoir also captures the experience of building a life in a region that connects East and West. Over his years in Arabia, Cowie has developed an appreciation for the Gulf's cultures, histories, and communities, while staying connected to New Zealand and its distinctive relationship with the ocean and the natural world.
The result is a story for readers drawn to travel, exploration, personal transformation, and the idea that a meaningful life need not follow a predetermined course. At its heart, Kiwi to the Kingdoms encourages readers to remain curious, embrace change, and make the most of the opportunities available to them.