Land intended for settlement was usually marked in 40-acre (16 ha) lots due to the then official view that this was an area suitable for sustaining a living.

The Sebbens family lived in the Tomakin area on a property called Oaks Ranch, southwest of Candlagan Creek.

Cecilia’s father, Richard Henry Barling, who was a free overseer, formalised his conditional purchase of portion 5 in 1852.

Joseph Sebbens, the eldest son of James and Cecilia, operated a steam mill at Malua Bay in the latter part of the 1800s with the help of his brother, William.

At the time of the sale the property was consolidated into one title under freehold with all the conditional purchase areas being converted.

The first car in the district was an International Motor Buggy purchased in 1908 by Adolf Thomsen, a grazier at Tomakin.

When the water level is high enough, Saltwater Creek flows into the ocean at the northern end of the beach.

There is an historic community boat shed at the northern end of the beach, which has been in existence since the thirties and which is maintained in good repair by local boat owners.‘Locals are motivated to try and stabilise the fore dune of the beach after some major erosion damage caused by storms some years ago.

With this aim, there has been an extensive program of environmental weed control and revegetation with natives, which has been fairly successful.

The level of attendance at regular beach clean-ups and working bees is also astounding, getting up to 70 per cent of the local population (and in summer, includes many of the "part-time" residents).

The locals ability to motivate even the nonpermanent resident holiday home owners to participate in helping keeping a clean and healthy beach is nothing short of amazing.

The fact that residents decided that they wanted a regular monthly activity is a testament to the success of the Landcare/Residents’ Groups education efforts.’Batemans Marine Park was established on 30 June 2007 and encompasses all waters at Rosedale.

[4] The Burrewarra Point Sanctuary Zone is a breeding ground for grey nurse sharks (critically endangered).

Highlights of the walk include possible sea eagle and cockatoo sightings, crossing Nuns Beach, and views of Jimmies Island and Guerilla Bay.