GRAND DESIGNS
IN January 1910, an Austrian-born man with a luxuriant black moustache climbed Cradle Mountain. Looking over the pristine lakes, rugged mountains and buttongrass plains he was smitten by the beauty of the Tasmanian highlands, declaring in his thick accent, “This must be a national park for the people for all time. It’s magnificent, and people must know about it and enjoy it.”
The man was Gustav Weindorfer – known to his friends as Dorfer – who had arrived in Australia in 1900, aged 26, leaving behind a tedious accounting job in Vienna for adventure in a new country. Dorfer had a keen interest in the natural world, and soon after
