On 29th September 2009, the leadership group of the Camino Salvado met to review the first walk that follows the current Pilgrims Trail. The Camino Salvado is a Pilgrimage, based on the ancient Camino Di Santiago in Spain, and is organised by the Parish of St Josephs in Subiaco WA.

Points raised were:

• The current Pilgrims Trail needs to be re-routed away from the Great Northern Highway north of Bindoon. Information provided since the recent Camino, and local knowledge suggests that the route can be rearranged to avoid all but the last 5 kms (approx) of the Great Northern Highway: ie on roads/trails towards Toodyay, travelling north from Walyunga National Park; utilising Julimar Road and fire trails and the Old Plains Road. Also, it was suggested that a route through Bindoon Agricultural College would also help avoid taking on the road trains.

• Safety is integral to the walk and permanent road signage through the Chittering Valley, to warn drivers that walkers use this route, will need to be considered: and all road walkers must wear appropriate “High Visibility” vests.

• Accommodation: Some was excellent and some less so. For groups in the future, paying a visit to all proposed premises prior to the Camino, and getting written confirmation of all details in order to avoid protracted waiting for facilities on arrival after a long days walk, should save a lot of headaches.

• Support Team: This was considered invaluable to the success of the Camino in terms of carriage of luggage, transporting pilgrims from and to finish/start points and ongoing support during the day. For future groups, it was thought that if 30 was the optimal number, then the breakdown should be 25 walkers and 5 support crew.

• Future Caminos: For 2010 there will be two Caminos to cater for an anticipated increase in numbers:

Monday 6th September

Monday 27th September

These points will be taken to the next meeting at the DSR on the 7th October.