Scot lands post as lighthouse keeper on Australian island

A Scottish man is living out his dream as a lighthouse keeper on a remote Australian island with only a colony of penguins for company. 

Sandy Duthie, 42, landed the role on Gabo Island, off the coast of Victoria, after the previous lighthouse keeper and island caretaker decided to retire after 25 years. 

Mr Duthie, from Aberdeenshire, visited Australia five years ago with his partner and never left.  

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

Mr Duthie now spends six months of the year on the island — one month on and one month off. Another keeper, who has been there for 16 years, shares the rotation with him. 

Speaking to the BBC about his first stay on the island in his new role, Mr Duthie said: 'It felt like home immediately, it felt very much like the north east of Scotland.'

Mr Duthie went to the island for the first time two years ago and 'immediately fell in love with the place'. 

He always dreamed of becoming its caretaker, so when the role opened, he jumped at the chance. 

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The previous keeper Leo op den Brouw, 70, had been in the position for the last 25 years and had decided to return to family life on the mainland earlier this year.

Mr Duthie said it takes about 30 minutes to get to the island via a small boat but the conditions can often be choppy. 

He described Gabo island as small but with 'amazing wildlife' including a colony of penguins, whales, sea eagles and seals. 

His tasks on the island range from weather observations every six hours to cleaning the public toilets and painting, as the salt air is very corrosive. 

'There's a lot of ongoing maintenance that needs to be done to the house,' Mr Duthie added, 'you just have to expect the unexpected'. 

While Mr Duthie loves the job, he did say it was not without its challenges as there are 'some days where it seems like a prison sometimes'. 

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Sometimes the phone signal can drop out and supplies can run low if a boat does not come.  

He told the BBC the previous caretaker referred to it as 'Alcatraz the rock' because you cannot go to family events and can sometimes be stuck on the island for days due to the weather. 

However, Mr Duthie said 'you can basically write your own script of the day and go about your duties'. 

Gabo lighthouse was built more than 160 years ago and has connections to Scotland and the Highlands. 

Mr Duthie said documents he has found suggest the person in charge of building in 1859 sought Scottish stonemasons, as they were used to working with hard material.

Many of the previous caretakers in the lighthouse's history have also been Scottish, Mr Duthie said.