Kate Legge - Escaping from the rat race – a Cradle Mountain love story

Gustav Weindorfer arrived in Melbourne from Austria in June 1900 and later met and married Tasmanian Kate Cowle. Their love of the natural and wild led them to Cradle Mountain where they eventually built a chalet for guests to stay. Their Waldheim or “home in the forest” was built of King Billy Pine. The couple mapped and created trails around the area. After Kate’s death in 1916, Weindorfer took up residence full time at Waldheim and began seeking support for a national park around Cradle Mountain. Today, the world celebrates Weindorfer’s trailblazing efforts in the pristine wilderness of Cradle Mountain – an Australian treasure. Kate Legge is a journalist with the Australian and the author of a number of books – most recently Kindred – A Cradle Mountain Love Story. To reflect on some of the story of Cradle Mountain and Gustav Weindorfer and Kate Cowle’s contribution to its pristine preservation, Kate Legge addressed the Sydney Institute on Monday 11 March 2019.