Trish follows path of pilgrims
TOOWOOMBA-born woman Trish Clark first heard about the Camino during a religion class at St Ursula’s College.
Ever since that first encounter, Mrs Clark has felt “haunted” by the topic.
The Camino is an ancient route that has been walked by pilgrims since the 9th century.
Early pilgrims from the south of France would set out on the 850km trek to visit the remains of the Apostle James interred in a cathedral in Santiago, Spain.
“All through my life I kept hearing about it,” Mrs Clark said of the Camino.
“At one stage a friend and I said we would do it, but in the end it didn’t happen. “But it just kept popping up. “I was at the optometrist when a magazine opened to a page with a paragraph marked in red biro about a talk on the Camino.”
Mrs Clark went along to the information evening and decided then to take part in the epic journey that would see her trek through some of Spain’s most
PICTURE: CONTRIBUTED interesting countryside.
Her first Camino undertaking was in 2011.
“Nothing could prepare you for the shock to the body, mind and spirit,” she said.
“Although, I did join a walking club a few months before I left.
“Nobody told me that the most difficult day of the walk would be the first day.”
On that first day, Mrs Clark walked closed to 36 kilometres over the Pyrenees.
“I got lost through sheer exhaustion and the mental fog,” she said.
But in what she describes her first Camino “miracle”, Mrs Clark woke the next day, refreshed and ready to complete her pilgrimage.
Mrs Clark has penned a guidebook using her experiences on the legendary walk.