On Friday 31 March 1916, Alfred Buckland and Son held an auction to sell some 126 sections on the western side of the peninsula stretching from big Bucklands Beach in the North to the cliffs at the southern end of little Bucklands Beach. The poster for the auction shows the peninsula was mainly grassland but with 3 areas of planted trees—along the length of Eastern Beach, on the steep slopes east of the Bucklands Beach centreboard yacht clubhouse and on the steep cliffs east of Wharf Road. The white shell road is visible down the centre of the peninsula and the wooden wharf is clearly visible extending about 15 m into the river. Phoenix palms were planted along Eastern Beach at this time to give the peninsula an exotic atmosphere.