The idea of flying at night when I don't have any instrument qualifications is deeply unappealing to me
I agree entirely. To me, this is a great inconsistency and I think the only reason the GA scene gets away with this (or occassionally not, see Kennedy Jr) is because very few plain PPLs fly at night anyway and when they do they pick the earliest possible time that enables them to collect the 3 logbook entries
And it's not really dark then. Also, in much of the UK, there are lights on the ground.