September–October 2015 61I moved to Kangaroo Island in 2009 and began work
at the lighthouse in 2011. With this job there’s no such
thing as bad weather. In fact, wild days make my job a
breeze. When the ocean is a blur of spray and whitecaps
and the waves are slamming into the cliffs below, no
visitor ever asks, “Why do we need a lighthouse?” And
likewise, after we step onto the tower balcony into thun-
dering rain and the untamed force of a howling southerly,
there’s never any doubt about the dedication of those
who spent their nights alone at the top.
The official line here is that it’s a little lighthouse
doing duty night after night. In the tower’s 163-year
history, many thousands of ships have slipped safely by,
en route to Gulf St Vincent. It’s a mission-accomplished
message of trade and engineering flair: its light went
from 15 lanterns burning whale and seal oil, to a mighty
First Order Fresnel lens – and now a halo of LED light
blinking 19km out to sea.
But behind the nuts-and-bolts practicalities, there’s
an uplifting human tale of handmade, castaway lives.
These sites were places of community. In keeping with
the British model, major lightstations (such as Cape
Willoughby) were once manned by three families, living
and working together. Food and supplies came by ship
only once every three months.
Between ships, the inhabitants had to grow their own
vegies, catch fish and cook up wallaby stews. Not to men-
tion be self-sufficient in everything from building main-
tenance and homeschooling to childbirth and emergency
medical care. But for all the accounts of hardship and
loss, the isolation could also be liberating. It was
an elemental place where many families had the time
of their lives.
The good news is that these backstories – and our
lighthouses – are now more accessible than ever. Some,
such as those at Cape Byron or Split Point at Aireys
Inlet, maintain a stately presence on local seaside head-
lands. But to tap into the essence of what makes
these eyries special, make the trek to towers at Cape
Leeuwin in south-western WA, or East Gippsland’s Point
Hicks, or Sandy Cape on the far-northern tip of Fraser
Island. Better still, go and spend a night or two in the
telling seclusion of the keepers’ cottages at sites such as
Wilsons Promontory, Montague Island or my treasured
Cape Willoughby.
It’s there, on the soulful, windswept edges, that our
heroic beacons really come alive. They shine their light
back to a time of stoic struggle, when the safety of every
boat warranted our best, big-hearted efforts.
There’s a feeling at these sites that goes beyond
matter-of-fact navigation – a glint of the unspoken bond
of trust that tethered those alone at sea with our selfless
keepers of the flame. AGCape crusaders. Since 1858 Cape Borda’s distinctive ‘sentry box’
lighthouse and Deville lantern room (above) have shone from the
north-western bluff of Kangaroo Island, SA – seen here with two of the local
subspecies of western grey kangaroo. Despite being hoisted 155m above
Investigator Strait, several ships missed this light at the western entrance to
Gulf St Vincent. In the wake of the tragic Loch Sloy and Loch Vennachar
shipwrecks on the island’s rugged western shores, in 1899 and 1905,
respectively, the handsome Cape de Couedic Lighthouse (below) was
added in 1909 to Kangaroo Island’s remote south-western tip.
FIND more stories about, and images of, lighthouses online:
TOP AND BOTTOM: QC / http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/issue128Macropus fuliginosus