Whirlwind tour takes couple to 55 P.E.I. lighthouses in 24 hours
‘It was exciting. It was exhausting. But I don't think we're going to do it again.’
After many months of planning, and one failed effort, a P.E.I. couple completed what they believe is the ultimate 24-hour P.E.I. lighthouse tour this week.
Lori Collicutt and Michael Adam visited 55 lighthouses, travelling from North Cape to West Point to Cape Bear to East Point.
Collicutt said the idea started with a plan to visit all the Island's lighthouses — their research had uncovered 63 — over the course of a season, but that developed into a plan to visit as many as possible in a single day.
"It wouldn't be an actual, you know, 'We get there, we see it, we have a good look,'" said Collicutt.
"It would be: 'Let's stop, take a picture, take a selfie if we can, or eyeball it and run and go to the next one and see if we can get them all.'"
The couple took their first shot at it in September, but the daylight ran out and with it their desire to complete the tour that time. They stopped at 42 but resolved to try again in June in order to take advantage of the earlier sunrise and later sunset.
There were some difficult locations to reach, but one of the biggest challenges was the desire to linger.
"Cape Egmont — the lighthouse is down this tiny little windy, bumpy road. And you feel like you're going forever and ever and ever. And it's dark and all of a sudden the lighthouse is right there," said Collicutt.
"We're wanting to stay and take more photos and have a better look at them, but we knew it was like a race. And we get out of the car, we're like 'OK, let's get our photos and let's go again.' Like, it was just a rush to get around the Island in 24 hours.
"It was exciting. It was exhausting. But I don't think we're going to do it again."
There were some lighthouses they knew it would not be possible to include. Reaching St. Peters Island would require walking for a couple of hours. Others had been decommissioned and are now on private property. Others on their list they couldn't find. They might not exist any more.
The couple is making plans to visit some of the lighthouses they couldn't include on the 24-hour tour, and also thinking about other 24-hour challenges they might set for themselves.
Maybe it will be fishing harbours, said Collicutt.
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With files from Island Morning