Wallandra Parish in Cobar Shire is a civil parish of Rankin County,[cartographer] C.A. Orwin, Map of the County of Rankin : Western Division, Land Districts of Bourke, Cobar and Wilcannia, N.S.W. 1912 (New South Wales. Department of Lands Title, Sydney N.S.W. 1914). a Cadastral division of New South Wales.The New atlas of Australia (John Sands, 1886) map 22. The Parish is on the Darling River upstream of Wilcannia, New South Wales and is located at . The only town of the parish is Tilpa, New South Wales.
Geography The topography of Wallandra Parish is flat with a Köppen climate classification of BsK (Hot semi arid). (direct: Final Revised Paper) Tilpa is a 120 km downstream from Louth, New South Wales and 250km upstream of Wilcannia. The parish has a number of billabongs.
Economy The economy in the parish is mainly an agricultural area, with sheep grazing the primary activity, and some pockets of irrigated land along the river. Tourism, including farmstay programs on local stations, is the other major local industry. Fishing and camping are popular along the river. The prolonged drought in 2007 saw Tilpa run out of potable water. A Sydney-based company has offered to trial a portable water filtration plant to improve the quality of both the river and bore water.
History The traditional owners of the area are the Barkindji people.Norman Tindale's Catalogue of Australian Aboriginal TribesAboriginal Australia Map, David Horton (ed.), 1994 published in The Encyclopedia of Aboriginal Australia by AIATSIS.
In 1835, explorer Major Thomas Mitchell was the first European to the region, in which he traced the Darling River to what is now Menindee.
In its heyday, the town of Tilpa was an important river port with paddle steamers delivering supplies to nearby sheep stations and returning down river laden with bales of wool. At Tilpa a punt, allowing sheep, horses and people to cross the Darling River safely, for a fee. was replaced by a bridge in 1963.
See also Rankin County, Mississippi
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