Bulletin - Vol 9 No. 2 March/April 2006

Lighthouses of Australia The Offshore Lights Photo: John Ibbotson

Lighthouses of Australia The Offshore Lights

reviewed by Denise Shultz, LoA Inc President and Kristie Eggleston, LoA Inc Bulletin Editor

LoA Inc. member John Ibbotson, author of Lighthouses of Australia Images from the End of an Era, and Lighthouses of Australia A Visitor's Guide, has released the third book in his lighthouse series, Lighthouses of Australia The Offshore Lights.

There is much more to this book than the title suggests. While this is primarily a collection of beautiful photographs of nearly 300 modern light towers, buoys and beacons, the book is also cleverly studded with many photographs of Australia’s traditional lighthouses, which were not published in John’s previous books. Many aerial photographs of remote and less known island beacons as well as pictures of wildlife add another angle of view, so that the fickle viewer’s interest never gets a chance to vane with the overkill of too much fibreglass and tubing. 

True, The Offshore Lights is mainly a picture book, but especially in its first third, there is plenty of reading to satisfy a pharophile or a pharologist. The chapter on the history of Australia’s lighthouse tenders is accompanied by their pictures, from Lady Loch through the ‘Cape’ ships to the last one of them, MV Cape Grafton, aboard which John was a passenger in 1994 and 2002. 

During the first voyage, which took the crew from Brisbane to Cairns, the ship got briefly grounded on the rocks at Dent Island, after which this one-liner appeared on the notice board: “Dent Island has been dented”.

John’s second voyage aboard the ship, this time under different name and owner, took place in 2002. MV Southern Supporter sailed from Port Hedland (WA) along the northern coast of Australia, around Cape York and down along the Queensland coast to Mooloolaba. While the crew changed three times, John stayed and photographed not only the lights but also the men at work. Many pictures in this story are ‘peopled’ with mechanics doing their job.

In conjunction with Lighthouses of Australia Images from the End of an Era, the two books contain the only published record of 450 of Australia’s coastal, highway and major harbour lighthouses. The book is a superb collection of photographs and stories about Australia’s offshore lighthouses, their spectacular locations and the people who maintain them.

Author and photographer, John Ibbotson at the Cape Jaffa Lighthouse Photo: Denise Shultz

Lighthouses of Australia The Offshore Lights (ISBN 095-812-1427) is a 12” x 10.5” (305 x 267mm) 288 page reference book that includes a wealth of information and superb photographs about Australia’s remote lighthouses and buoys. It contains:

• 500 colour photographs of over 300 different lighthouses and buoys, or their stunning locations, from around Australia with concise, informative captions for each of the lights
• 14 detailed maps showing the location and status of Australia’s lighthouses
• A section on modern lighthouse lanterns and lenses and the people who make them
• A history of Australia’s lighthouse tenders and a personal account of two voyages, done on the last Australian tender, the MV Cape Grafton / MV Southern Supporter
• A combined volume Index covering both books

“This book provides something for everybody that has an interest in lighthouses, old or new.”

This new book, and the previous two books, are available at a discount for LoA Inc members. Members who contact John directly can receive a $10 discount per book. For more information, visit John's website at www.lighthouses.com.au, email John or call 61 (0)3 9808 5474.

• Review of A Visitors Guide - October 2003 Bulletin
• Review of Images from the End of an Era - November 2001 Bulletin

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