1830, after difficulties on the expedition and the whole party was practically exhausted, Sturt recorded that "amidst these distresses Macleay preserved his good humour and did his utmost to lighten the toil and to cheer the men". Macleay and Sturt remained good friends and corresponded regularly until Sturt's death in 1869.

Macleay then lived on and farmed the Brownlow estate, near Camden, and also established a property at Fish River, between Goulburn