A Melburnian may laugh at this post yet if you look again with fresh eyes. The eyes of someone from elsewhere you will see a wonderful beachfront campground that stretches for kilometres. Soft sandy beaches, stunning bay views and stands of Coastal Banksia and Ti Tree.

Many is the wet Christmas holiday period when we’ve said “Pity the poor buggers at Rosebud.” When in actual fact, those poor buggers were probably tucked up warm and dry playing noisy and memorable games of Monopoly with their ‘summertime neighbours’.

“The Rosebud Foreshore” as we locals refer to it, stretches from McCrae in the north to Sorrento in the south. In all there are more than 1000 sites on 13kms of well maintained grassy and shady campgrounds situated between Nepean Highway and the beach. The majority of sites are powered but there are plenty of unpowered sites as well. Water is available and there are toilet and shower blocks located every few hundred metres. Sections of the campground are rotated in the cooler months to allow for regrowth and during that times those amenities blocks are closed.

My very first holiday was a caravan holiday when I was 6months of age when Dad packed Mum and I into the sidecar of his motorbike and we rode over to Rosebud to camp in my Uncle’s caravan.

Generations of Melbourne families can’t be wrong. They spend every Summer holiday on the beach at Rosebud. They meet and marry their sweethearts there. We have friends who did just that and have now retired to a townhouse opposite the campground.

We have other friends who take advantage of the cheaper off season rates and every year spend several months living in their caravan on the foreshore just a short drive from their home.

For anyone who wants a beachfront site in the off season that is a short drive from all that the Peninsula has to offer then this is the spot. Nearby there are wineries, breweries, pubs, cafes, National Parks, golf courses, wild ocean walks and quiet beaches. For families wanting a beach holiday for the kids with safe shallow swimming beaches, carnivals, shops and supermarkets without having to use the car then this is the place for you too.

For more information and site maps visit http://www.visitmorningtonpeninsula.org