Robertson
Situated on top of the Illawarra escarpment, up the magnificent Macquarie Pass, the town of Robertson forms a gateway from the coast to the region of the Southern Highlands. The town owes its name to a 
former premier of NSW, who left his mark in the history through the 1860s Robertson Land Act.
In the early 1800s, the region was still covered in rainforest. The Yarrawa Brush was gradually cleared to make way for agriculture, but remnants of this forest exist right in the centre of Robertson. The rich, red, volcanic soils of the region provided a good base for dairy industry and agriculture.
The town of Robertson was largely established in the 1870s and 1880s, and there are still several beautiful old buildings in the town that date from this period.
Robertson is now home to more than one thousand people (census 2001), with the surrounding countryside doubling the population.
Robertson was established as an agricultural community but like the rest of the towns and villages of the Southern Highlands, Robertson people today act in a multitude of different professions from farming to service industries, arts and tourism. More and more people commute to bigger towns and cities for work, while enjoying living in the peace and quiet of Robertson.
Robertson offers a variety of tourist friendly services and businesses from accommodation to cafes and restaurants and shops selling antiques, arts, crafts and pottery.
The Robertson Country Markets are held in the village on the second Sunday of each month, and the traditional Robertson Show is held every year in February/March.
One of our main tourist attractions, the Robertson Cheese Factory, reflects the history of dairy farming in the region. While cheese is no longer made here, the famous Robertson potatoes are still grown in the area.
Even if passenger trains no longer arrive from Wollongong, the Robertson Heritage Railway Station (built 1932, listed by the National Trust) acts as a terminus stop for the Cockatoo Run, a scenic run for tourists from Sydney via Wollongong to Robertson.
Nearby towns and villages worth exploring include the picturesque village of Burrawang and the bigger towns of Moss Vale and Bowral.
The attractions of the surrounding countryside include tourist drives with beautiful scenery over the rolling hills of the Southern Highlands, the rainfalls of Fitzroy Falls, Belmore Falls and Carrington Falls, as well as several nearby rainforest natural parks.
