A business couple from Pambula on NSW's south coast have snapped up Wendy Machin's spectacular grazing property nestled amongst national parks at the top of the Manning Valley.
The pair paid $4 million for Eaglehawk at auction last Friday, after storms saw the auction postponed for a week.
The price of the winning bid for the 2449-hectare (6053 acres) property is the equivalent of just $661 an acre but only about 500ha is cleared, bringing the price per cleared acre to $3239.
About 500ha is cleared and LJ Hooker agent Craig Hailes said has a current carrying capacity of 300-350 bullocks or breeder equivalent with the opportunity to grow that significantly.
But grazing profitability is not likely to be uppermost in the minds of the buyers.
Mr Hailes said the couple planned to retire to the property in next couple of years.
Ahead of the auction, Ms Machin told The Land that Eaglehawk was a combination of open kikuyu ridges with beautiful views across rolling, gentle mountains.
"There are pockets of rain forest tucked in some of the gullies, a couple of beautiful creeks and swimming holes and a lovely river that forms the western boundary, so it is a very pretty property," she said.
"The quietness, the stillness, the fireflies at night. It's just a beautiful place to be."
It sits alongside a national park in the upper reaches of the Manning Valley, mid-way between Wauchope and Walcha, not far off the Oxley Highway.
For years, Ms Machin has used it as a place to fatten weaners bred further down the valley.
It's worked very well, with plenty of shelter to find under the timber in winter and plenty of rain to support lush, grassy ridgelines.
"Between the coast and the mountains, it always catches a bit of rain so it's always been very sweet country, even when the conditions down around the coast were not so great," Ms Machin said.
"It just seems to be happily situated."
The nearby hills help bring Eaglehawk an annual average 1100 millimetres of rainfall and permanent creeks flow throughout the property, which also has a 10.5 kilometre frontage to Rowleys River.
The timber on the property brings the potential for a third income, too. A consultant's report shows selective harvesting could net the new owner an estimated $530,000.
Eaglehawk has no accommodation other than a rather comfortable set up with power courtesy of a generator, five beds, gas fridge, stove, open fireplace and a bathroom with bathtub.
There's even a hot shower outside.
Marian Macdonald
Writing for farmers in the Stock & Land, The Land, Queensland Country Life, Stock Journal and FarmWeekly, farming in Gippsland.
Writing for farmers in the Stock & Land, The Land, Queensland Country Life, Stock Journal and FarmWeekly, farming in Gippsland.
