Scot lands a dream job as a lighthouse keeper on an Australian island

A Scottish man has landed his “dream job” as a lighthouse keeper on a remote Australian island.

Sandy Duthie, 42, jumped at the chance when the former lighthouse keeper decided to retire after 25 years on Gabo Island, off the coast of Victoria.

Sandy, from Aberdeenshire, visited Australia five years ago with a friend, and never left. When he went to the small lighthouse island he realized that he would like to one day be a part of its history.

Landing a lighthouse keeper and island keeper job means he now spends six months of the year there – one month off and one month – with a group of penguins for company.

Sandy is from Kirkton of Durris, near Banchory.

He studied ecology at the University of Aberdeen before becoming an arborist.

He visited Mallacoota in 2019 with his partner Brodie Gaudion on an initial three-month holiday visa to meet his family for the first time, and ended up staying.

He started going to Gabo Island two years ago, and he dreamed of eventually becoming its guardian.

The Gabo lighthouse itself was built over 160 years ago.

Former goalkeeper Leo op den Brouw, 70, has spent every second month alone on the island for the past 25 years.

When she decided to return to family life in the country earlier this year that left the position open, and Sandy got a job with the government agency Parks Victoria.

He and another keeper – who has been working there for 16 years – share a month-to-month rotation.

Sandy and his huge beard – which he has grown for years, and which he thought helped in the interview – started his new job in March.

He goes to and from the island using a small boat rental.

It takes about 30 minutes if the weather allows it – conditions are often variable – and there are often whales nearby.

Sandy’s first experience in Gabo Island was when she visited for two weeks to do weed control work.

“It felt like home straight away, it felt very much like north-east Scotland,” he explained.

“The foliage – so beautiful – and the granite is unlike any other part of Australia I’ve seen. I immediately fell in love with this place.

“I asked the goalkeeper at the time how he got the job and he told me it was just luck in the right place at the right time. And since then he retired and I applied for the job – right place, right time.

“Jobs don’t come around often.”

He described the island of Gabo as small but with “amazing” wildlife.

“We have little penguins – that’s a big colony,” he said.

“We’ve got whales, sea eagles and seals. We’ve got whales coming through all the time now.

“I saw about 15 or 16 today. Sometimes 30 or 40 a day.”

Sandy said that the job itself is like a way of life.

“You have to go with the rhythm of what you have to do and don’t expect too much or plan because Gabo Island has a way of investigating whatever plans you have.

“You have to be able to solve problems. Our various tasks range from checking the weather every six hours to cleaning public toilets, painting everything – we have 80% humidity with salty air so everything rusts and rusts and everything needs maintenance.

“There are many drafts that need to be done in the house.

“You have to expect the unexpected.”

He said this job was good for him, but it comes with obstacles.

“There’s enough variety to keep your mind busy all the time,” says Sandy.

“I really enjoy my company. I enjoy being with other people. My partner comes to visit me.

“Don’t get me wrong, there are days when it feels like a prison sometimes.

“The previous keeper described it as Alcatraz the rock. You can’t leave, go to family events when you’re here. Sometimes we get stuck here for days on end because of the weather.

“But at the same time you can write your diary and do your work.

“It can be difficult if the phone signal goes out, but I don’t remember much.

He said the goods could run out if the boat does not arrive.

“But the other side of it is when I go back to the country, the thing I found out is that I have to be very careful about being in a crowd of people.

“When you’ve been alone for weeks without seeing another face, it’s scary to go to a bar or a party.”

He also discovered that there was another Scottish connection on Gabo Island.

“The pink desert in Gabo is very hard compared to the rest of the desert in Australia,” Sandy explained.

“Documents I have found suggest that the person in charge of the building of the lighthouse in 1859 was actually looking for Scottish masons, especially those who had worked on the Aberdeen and Peterhead lighthouses, as they were used to working with such difficult materials.

“Unfortunately, we don’t know much about who built the lighthouse.

“There is a book about all the caretakers who have been on the island since 1859, and most of them are Scottish – people from the Highlands and Islands, Perth, Edinburgh, Glasgow and the North East.

“It’s really amazing the Scottish connection here.

“It’s 100% a dream job. To me it’s perfect.”