By chance I learnt that Point Perpendicular Lighthouse would be open for visitors on August 15 to celebrate International Light & Lightships Weekend.

The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1993 and replaced by an automated, solar powered light, on a steel lattice tower. The new light has none of the beauty or romance of the original lighthouse, which sits high atop the massive sandstone cliffs of Point Perpendicular, on the northern headland at the entrance to Jervis Bay. Every year on International Light & Lightships Weekend the original lighthouse is re-lit and becomes operational again.

Adjacent to the lighthouse is a row of houses where the keepers once lived. The nearby coastline is treacherous and was known as the wreck coast. It must have been a lonely and perilous life for those living atop these cliffs manning the light through long nights, ensuring it always shone for ships out to…