Byron's lighthouse on the blink
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Staff from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority are rushing to repair the Cape Byron Lighthouse. (www.sxc.hu: Pete Crumpton, file photo)
The lights have gone out at Cape Byron Lighthouse at the easternmost point of the Australian mainland.
The lighthouse's massive bulbs blew about 8:00pm last night as a spectacular electrical storm swept through the region.
Staff from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority say they believe that the lighthouse itself took a direct lightning strike.
Authority spokeswoman Tracey Jiggins says staff are on their way to fix the problem.
"The lantern controller has been damaged," she said.
"Until we get people onsite and do an assessment we're not sure of what other damage may or may not have been done but there haven't been any reports of damage to the lighthouse itself."
Ted Taylor with the Cape Byron Coastal Patrol says the lighthouse's 1,000-watt halogen lamps aren't working.
"The light's revolving. It's got two bulbs inside but it looks like they've blown," he said.
"We've got no computers or nothing up here too. So it's blown everything up here too.
"It's just a waiting game until maritime services come down and fix it up."
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