Kate Legge

To protect our beautiful and threatened natural environment from the effects of climate change, might we take inspiration from the past? Join us for an evening with Kate Legge and discover the story of the two eco-visionaries at the heart of her latest book, Kindred. The love they had for each other dovetailed with their passion for conservation. Together, they worked to protect and nurture the wild landscape of Cradle Mountain, a place embedded deeply in Australian folklore. Kate will be in-conversation with Nikki Gemmell.

About the Book

He was an Austrian immigrant; she came from Tasmania. He grew up beside the Carinthian Alps; she climbed mountains when few women dared. Their honeymoon glimpse of Cradle Mountain lit an urge that filled their waking hours. Others might have kept this splendour to themselves, but Gustav Weindorfer and Kate Cowle sensed the significance of a place they sought to share with the world. When they stood on the peak in the heat of January 1910, they imagined a national park for all.

Kindred: A Cradle Mountain Love Story traces the achievements of these unconventional adventurers and their fight to preserve the wilderness where they pioneered eco-tourism. Neither lived to see their vision fully realised: the World Heritage listed landscape is now visited by 250,000 people each year. Award-winning journalist Kate Legge tells the remarkable story behind the creation of the Cradle Mountain sanctuary through the characters at its heart.

Praise

"Magnificent. Legge brings to light a hidden tale of Australia’s wilderness and unearths a love story of daring unconventionality in the process. This is a book about two remarkable people who yearned to escape the rat-race over a century ago, and founded a national park in the process." - NIKKI GEMMELL

"Here is a stirring homage to a couple of unsung heroes of an all too rare but persistent breed in Australia’s European history—the outliers for whom the Australian bush incited not violence, indifference or contempt, but wonder, reverence, a near-religious devotion. Believing that the bush enlarged the human mind and spirit, they gave their lives to preserving what they could of it in the hope that the country might also be blessed. People who love the bush—and Cradle Mountain in particular—will read this book: everyone else should read it. It’s a gem.” - DON WATSON

About the Author

Kate Legge writes for The Weekend Australian Magazine. She has covered politics and social affairs in Australia and America. She has published two novels: The Unexpected Elements of Love (long-listed for the Miles Franklin Award) and The Marriage Club.