# Planning to relocate to Areias nr Tomar



## cricketmanpeter (Oct 5, 2014)

We have bought a derelict farm house in Areias. We are planning to move over, early spring. 

If anyone out there knows anyone that has a caravan for sale, that we can buy to enable use to live in to enable us to project manage the house whilst is being renovated. We would really appreciate any help regarding this. 

We are also looking for a car. 

We are pensioners, moving to be nearer our daughter and grandchildren.

Look forward to hearing from anyone that can help.


----------



## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

Welcome to the forum. 

Did you mean Tomar rather than Toma?

There's a fair number of used caravans for sale out here but I have no idea of the prices I'm afraid. 

When you buy a car, my advice would be to buy from a branded main dealer rather than just a second hand car dealer..... you'll pay more but guarantee will be more reliable. 

One used car dealer you need to avoid like the plague is Seven Sport in Condeixa-a-Nova near Coimbra who striped me up to the tune of about €1500 when I had an engine problem during the guarantee period and they refused to honour their guarantee.


----------



## cricketmanpeter (Oct 5, 2014)

Good morning Travelling man

It was a typo error, it is Tomar. 

Do you know how we would find a caravan? Are you aware if there is a site similar to Gumtree the is English speaking?

I noticed you have at some time spent time in South Africa. We used to live in Cape Town and have an adopted son with complex needs from there. 

When over in Portugal in September, looking at property, we met an mature couple(like us) who are going back to the UK. They want us to consider doing a swap for their van and us bring in a transit type van for them to go back in. 

This is very much up in the air.

Thanks for replying.

Gloria Peter's other half.


----------



## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

You could look at olx.pt and custojusto.pt and also google something like caravans for sale in Portugal or central Portugal caravan site for a start but in my area (Figueiro Dos Vinhos) at least, it's not that uncommon for some car dealers to have an occasional caravan for sale. - If you're on Farcebook, you might like to check the group entitled 'Central Portugal and Silver Coast Classifieds' who also sometimes have caravans and motor homes etc for sale........ However, you need to be aware that you're only allowed to tow a PT registered caravan with a PT registered car and a UK registered caravan with a UK registered car. - Also be aware that winter is coming and a caravan will probably be helluva cold in winter. 

We ran a business that operated in a variety of African countries but lived near White River which is about 15 minutes drive from the SW corner of the Kruger Park. - Happy days in most ways. 

Tomar is a stunning area and I'm sure you'll love it there.


----------



## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

Oh, I forgot to say that if your using Chrome or Firefox and one or two others, it'll auto translate for you...... it's nowhere near perfect but is usually adequate.


----------



## cricketmanpeter (Oct 5, 2014)

Hi Travelling man thanks for all your help.

We have managed to secure a caravan from a friend of my daughter. We have no plans of relocating until the weather warms up in Central Portugal. 

There is a lot of hard thinking to do and unloading on this side. 

Do you have any regrets settling in Portugal? By the way my name is Gloria, I do all the writing. 

We need to move to a warmer climate because of Peter's arthritis. He used to be very involved in cricket, the arthritis is a legacy of years of standing in a field. that's my opinion. 

Thanks for taking time out to write back and forth.

Take care

Gloria and Peter


----------



## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

Hi Gloria & Peter

I'm Steve........ My wife & I are both Brits but we lived in South Africa for some years and we left there and came here about 3 years ago and we don't regret it at all....... we still miss Africa and especially miss our friends there and we always will but we wouldn't go back there to live again. 

Peter has my sympathy....... I also have arthritis, especially in my hips and knees and it's helluva painful thing to have!


----------



## cricketmanpeter (Oct 5, 2014)

Hi Steve I wrote an epic to you yesterday, outlining why we left SA. Our son-in-law was murdered at his place of employment. It looks like it never went.

Like you we really miss SA but will never go back. We went on holiday in March, because I had found our adopted son's birth mother. Sadly on the 11 th hour she got cold feet. Yet last Sunday we were approached by email, by his birth aunty. Back to our visit in March, I feel very insecure. Its so unsafe now in my opinion. 

Our son has complex needs thanks to him we developed an awareness raising charity, here in the UK and in Cape Town. Our son has foetal alcohol syndrome caused by his birth mothers alcohol consumption during pregnancy. She was a university student at Stellenbosh. 


Steve Peter like you is battling with his knees and his hips. He has been waiting nearly 2 years for a hip replacement. Will he get it this is debatable with the NHS now. 

Do you feel any better for living in Portugal. The cold damp weather here in Wigan Lancashire plays havoc with Peter's joints. 

Look forward to hearing from you again.

Regards

Gloria and Peter


----------



## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

Sorry to hear about your problems. 

Ja, my arthritis is better here than in SA and MUCH better than it was in the UK. - If you have UK passports, or even if one of you does, then you're entitled to the same healthcare as any Portuguese person gets and that healthcare (from my experience) beats the hell out of the UK NHS and is at least as good as many RSA private hospitals. 

My sangoma (  ) has told me I need new hips and has offered to put me on the list but has also suggested I try to wait for a few years so the one set of replacements will see me out rather than have to have it redone when I'm a really old fart. 

Life here in Portugal beats the heck out of life in SA and the UK in every possible way I can think of. People are friendly and our area at least, is pretty much crime free and when I compare that to how I used to carry a sidearm whenever I went out and kept another in a holster fixed beneath my bedside table, I consider myself very lucky to be here.


----------



## jcowling (Nov 12, 2014)

*good reading*

Good luck with your move. I am new to this just joined, we also are hoping to move to Portugal as soon as our House is sold in Brittany, like the last posts I to lived in S. A for three years when I was 20 a long time ago !! I still have a very good friend there and I went back to visit her after 30 years, we used to work together in Jo.Burg.
Anyway my latest anxiety about moving to Portugal is where to live,???m we are retired, we make music and I paint love nature and walking, don't want to be to cut off from people but love our quite times, we wondered about the west coast an hour from Lisbon as I have to have a city fix from time to time? Also are there interest groups like painting and music, classes ect to go to?


----------



## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

You should pay particular attention to how you insulate your renovation, hate to point out to you that Central Portugal's climate during winter spring is not great for arthritis but it is for shorter durations, also that arthritic treatment is good and he should after registering correctly with Social Security and Health Service get referred to a specialist unit for monitoring and treatment, knee 7 hip replacements have relatively short waiting periods here


----------



## cricketmanpeter (Oct 5, 2014)

Hi thanks for making contact. I hope you do not mind we will come back later today. Really up the wall here at the moment. 

We will be leaving the UK for Portugal on the 1.1.15. 

Looking forward to sharing and making new friends. We all need each other out there. 

Warmest regards

Gloria and Peter.


----------



## cricketmanpeter (Oct 5, 2014)

Sorry that's rushing. I should have said 1.3.15


----------

