Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Introducing the Pilgrims Trail - a new Heritage walk for Western Australia

On 5th September 2009, 28 People walked into the Monastery town of New Norcia, 125kms north of Perth in Western Australia. The journey was inspired by the memory of Dom Rosendo Salvado, the
Benedictine monk who had founded the town in the nineteenth century. It had taken the group six days and five nights to travel the distance, and since that first walk, well over 250 people have experienced the Trail in small organized groups.

The path they followed started in Subiaco, followed through to Kings Park the CBD and down alongthe Swan river to Guildford. From there it travelled through the Swan Valley to Walyunga National Park – a place of spiritual significance to the Nyoongar people who have links to the area dating back 40000 years. The trail then followed through the Chittering Valley and onto Bindoon. The last 50kms being along the Great Northern Highway to its destination of New Norcia.

Since that time, the route has changed significantly, and we no longer walk along the Highway, but have moved inland through Julimar Forest and private farms to the north, before following Old Plains Road to New Norcia.
The work of securing this alignment has taken a huge amount of time and effort by the volunteer members of the Pilgrim Trail Board - now a registered Foundation and a Charitable Institution.

The Pilgrims Trail Foundation.

We have now established a permanent alignment which allows walkers to discover what wonderful treasures lie just on the edge of the beautiful city of Perth WA. For safety reasons, and to comply with the wishes of the Private Landholders, we have limited Trail Access to the months of April through to the end of September - otherwise, heat, flies and fire are a real danger.

This year we have assigned oversight of the Trail Walkers to Inspiration Outdoors, whose website link occurs on this site. They are enthusiastic about their challenge and our Foundation believes this is a necessary "step up" in management to cope with the increasing demand for usage of our Trail.

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