Babe...

Friday is an optimistic day.
She offers up the promise of something else, something ineffable...
And here's to you all...https://t.co/3YGAdfPEiK

— Tim Mallon (@PatMalo85776814) July 24, 2020

Memory jolt when I saw this posting...
Never did see the film...no particular reason why not except that when a film is popular,
I usually wait to till the hue and cry dies down and then view...
This one I forgot to re-visit...

However, the memory relates to where Babe was filmed...
It was filmed in Robertson, in the Southern Highlands of NSW.
Robertson was a scenic, short drive from Camden...where I lived in the 1990's.
Robertson itself has stunning countryside...often wandered there at weekends.
Used to be signs around the town that Babe was filmed there, but not sure if the signs still exist.

Established in the 1860s, Robertson was known as “Yarrawa”,
from the “Yarrawa Brush”,
a generic term used by the early settlers for the local rainforest
which they had set out to clear.
The clearing of the dense rainforest was necessary
to enable farming of the rich red basalt soil which lay beneath the Yarrawa Brush.

Further...another memory of Robertson,
spent a long weekend there at Ranelagh House - on a professional development spree...
(but the current website states that it was called originally Hotel Ranelagh
- in fact, Ranelagh has had a number of name tweakings)
Brilliant old rambling building...built in 1924...with peacocks outside.
The peacocks loved getting on the tin roof in the mornings
and gifting us all with a loud wake-up call...

There were overgrown tennis courts to explore outside
(pre-refurbishment)
Rambling rocky gardens
Animal cages
And a brilliant view of the coast
from the top of the escarpment
where Ranelagh was sited...

In its original heyday, Ranelagh boasted a nine-hole golf course,
two tennis courts, croquet, lawn bowls, billiards, fishing, hunting, horseback riding,
and an onsite mechanic who looked after guest's cars during their stay.
The hotel won the 'Most luxurious hotel in the Commonwealth' award in 1925,
and was the first hotel in Australia to have phone lines to every room.

It is a 3 storey brick building with 80 or more rooms...

The long weekend wasn't all workshops...
There were some fun times too...
I remember a lively pillow fight (4 of us to a room)
In-depth and quirky dialogue with other teachers after dinner
(complete with a glass of wine of course)

But one night...the last night...
At 1:00am

A lone violinist
played quietly in the hallway
at the base of the stairs...

Ranelagh is surrounded by 14 acres of gardens and includes a quaint little gift shop...

Ranelagh has now been re-named The Robertson Hotel...


 P.S. Just found out an addition to this grand old lady (on the above website)
One of the most charming and unique features of The Robertson Hotel is that it has its own railway platform on the Moss Vale to Unanderra Line, one of the most scenic train lines in NSW.
The route you take is called the Cockatoo Line.
The heritage train runs from different locations (Sydney to Wollongong),
but stops right in Ranelagh grounds.


The Cockatoo Run

For s.thing different...perhaps try 'Babe' - filmed in the Southern Highlands, Robertson, Australia. It is a comedy-drama. A pig is raised by sheepdogs and learns to herd sheep with a little help from Farmer Hoggett.

— Gemma Wiseman (@AuraGem) July 24, 2020