The long-held dream of Alastair Cox to record the history of one of the great pastoral stations on NSW came to fruition on the weekend with the very successful launch of Yanga - portrait of a national secret.
More than 200 friends, neighbours and Balranald residents turned out to support Alastair and his family with his project.
Among those who spoke after Mike Clancy had introduced Alastair, Jim Coady and Graeme Black complimented Alastair on a great production, with author Stephen Burns giving a brief introduction of the book.
For the past three years he has been working alongside Stephen Burns to record the pastoral history form the time of the squatters in the 1840's until it was purchased in 2005 by the NSW Department of Environment and Conservation.
With that purchase, pastoral and sawmilling activities ceased on Yanga and it was gazetted as a national park.
The pastoral history as recorded is as thorough as was possible with available archives and primary resources.
It is perhaps one of the few places in this country where you can watch the sun rise over water, and in the evening you can see the sun set over water.
At the time of writing, Yanga Lake is the fullest it has been for many years and with further flood water coming down the Lachlan and Murrumbidgee Rivers, the extent of the water level is certain to rise.
The homestead is of unique construction: made from locally milled redgum and Murray River pine, it was built around the original hut constructed in the late 1840's and completed by 1872.
During the pastoral ownership, various well known names were associated with Yanga, including WC Wentworth, CB Fisher and Sir Arthur Sims, whose descendants, members of the Black family sold the property in 2005.
With the ownership transferred into the public domain, it is hoped the property will continue to be cared for and visited by many.
- This book was self-published and is available from Alastair Cox on 0402 331 473
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