At Robertson

 

‘We came this far to see this?’

My daughter wondered.

At Robertson, we were staring

At a giant Pig,

Daubed in pink,

Celebrating three decades of a movie.

 

My daughter grew up

With a different pig,

Peppa would have her excited

But who’s heard of ‘Babe’?

Yet she walked around

And looked at the farm animals

 

While I stopped in the winter sun,

Realising, I was her age,

When I saw a pig herding sheep.

It was a lovely memory, worth coming this far.

Thirty years was a long time

But then, I wondered:

 

It was not Babe alone who had aged,

Perhaps then, I had not come

To remember a movie;

I look at my daughter

She waits patiently

For her promised pie and milkshake…

9^th August 2026

 

The Big Potato at Robertson was one of Australia's famous roadside "big things", a tradition of oversized sculptures celebrating local industries, produce and eccentric attractions. Built in 1977, the 10-metre-long fibreglass potato reflected Robertson's identity as a major potato-growing area in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales. The original Big Potato eventually fell into disrepair, but was restored and repurposed in 2025, when it was transformed into the pink Pig Potato to mark the 30th anniversary of Babe, the Australian film about a pig who dreams of becoming a sheepdog. The choice was particularly fitting because Babe was filmed in the Robertson and Southern Highlands region. Thus, the Pig Potato carries several layers of local history: the area's potato-growing heritage, Australia's fascination with "big things", and the unexpected connection between Robertson and one of Australia's best-loved films.