Probably about to show my considerable ignorance here but, .....
1) If you hold a current IR who says you need some sort of night rating to fly at night? My understanding is that to carry pax at night you need to have done 3 x night TO and landings in the previous 90 days.
2) Why can't you just keep your IR current? Smoke is a good substitute for cloud in that part of the world.
Dr 