Twenty-four people took part in the sixth annual Camino Salvado pilgrimage from Subiaco to New Norcia from September 8 to 14.
The pilgrims included two religious sisters from WA and eight who travelled from the Eastern States to complete the 160km walk.
Tony Stefanoff from All Saints parish in Greenwood took part for the first time and said he thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
“It was something I’d been looking forward to for a long time… and it was everything I hoped it to be and more, it was fantastic,” he said.
Mr Stefanoff said most of the other pilgrims were unknown to him at the start of the pilgrimage, but by the end he had become friends with them all.
“You’re constantly circulating with the people and I got to know all of them amazingly well… I hadn’t experienced anything like it before,” he said.
The 68-year-old paid tribute to the volunteers who organise the pilgrimage each year.
“There’s an amazing group of volunteers who… love giving others the opportunity to experience it,” he said.
“Quite frankly, I was blown away by their generosity. They put an incredible amount of work into it.”
Mr Stefanoff, who was inspired to complete the pilgrimage after watching the 2010 film, The Way, said there were many highlights during the journey.
“The ability to walk through the rain to the daily destination, and to have a bus full of cheerful people without one complaint or negative comment, that was amazing,” he said.
The camaraderie that developed over the seven days was another highlight.
“What was interesting was that there were several people on it that were agnostics or of no deep religious conviction and they were participating just as much as those who had an extremely deep spirituality,” Mr Stefanoff said.
“The sheer satisfaction of achieving the end goal, which everyone did, of walking into New Norcia with the abbey bells ringing as a pilgrim, you had to be there, it can’t be explained.
“Then to have the Abbot greet you and give you a Benedictine blessing was pretty special, and looking around, even the agnostics were touched.”
Mr Stefanoff said he gained a better understanding of his own faith by making the pilgrimage, as well as learning from the faith of others.
He said he would like to support the Camino Salvado however he can to ensure that others can continue to take part in the event.
“The Camino must not die, it must not be allowed to die, this must go on forever, generations have got to continue to have it available to them,” he said.
“The Camino is a fantastic experience and I’d like to think it will be on every year forever. Regardless of your age, physical condition, or spiritual position in life, you should go.”