Three keepers tended the light and its red tower on South Neptune Island. Their work was dominated by the kerosene lamp, kept from dusk to dawn in three-hourly shifts. Before the light was lit by the head keeper, the mantle was primed, the fuel cylinders pressurised and the rotation mechanism wound. Vigilance was required as the mantle could extinguish at any time through interference from the moths that gathered around it.

The keepers filled the rest of their working days with endless maintenance and repair work. The glazings and prisms of the lamp needed regular cleaning, brass had to be polished, diesel generators had to be checked, cottages and outbuildings needed repairs, stores had to be taken on and the large structure of the lighthouse itself, invariably needed another coat of paint. When they weren’t busy with their chores the keepers would go fishing or spend time with their families.