Land in excellent nick, note, after journey skyward (7)
I believe the answer is:
albania
'land' is the definition.
(Albania is an example)
'excellent nick note after journey skyward' is the wordplay.
'excellent' becomes 'ai' (resembles 'Al', old-fashioned term for excellent).
'nick' becomes 'nab' (both can mean steal).
'note' becomes 'la' (I've seen this in other clues).
'after journey skyward' says the letters should be written in reverse (in a down clue, letters go up).
'ai'+'nab'+'la'='ainabla'
'ainabla' back-to-front is 'ALBANIA'.
'in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for albania that I've seen before include "Balkan country" , "Country W of Macedonia" , "Mediterranean country" , "Country of King Zog" , "Country in the Balkans" .)