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Host rating
80 %
Last replied
30 Aug 2025
Reply rate
75.0 %
Usually responds within 3 days
Feedback
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Details
Description
If you are looking for a place to hide away over Christmas in nature please get in touch.
We would love someone responsible and considerate to stay on our farm, take care of our animals and enjoy the peace and quiet of the valley.
We are a busy, buzzy family of 2 adult (49 and 47) , 3 children (19, 14 and 9), 1 dog, 2 cats,4 sheep, (Our 19 year old has just moved to UK). We left the UK 8 years ago in our motorhome and after travelling for 1 year we found a beautiful spot in Central Portugal where we wanted to begin to create something new for ourselves. We moved onto the land here in August and enjoyed a scorching hot summer and an abundance of grapes, figs, peaches, walnuts, cherries, apples, pears and more. Then in October there was a huge fire in Central Portugal and our Quinta burned. We have remained here and watched it regrow over the last 8 years. We have come a long way in these 8 years. We have journeyed from van life to yurt life and now we are living in a fully functioning off grid house!
The land had also come a long way and the olives, figs and peaches, pears, plums, walnuts, chestnuts, kiwis, passion fruits and apricots were all bearing fruits again! The bird song had increased year on year and the crickets, frogs and owls were all creating a symphony of song that sounded like we are in the jungle!
We planted over 4,000 new trees in partnership with our beautiful friends and we ate very well from our veggie garden, filling the larder with courgette chutney!
Sadly in August this year we were once again engulfed by flames. The Valley burned again and our beautiful guest house burned too. Our house that we live in still remains intact and so life goes on. Because we have listened as the sound of life gradually returned to the valley and we know how nature prevails, we know the Valley will soon be beautiful again, already we see so many trees sprouting new fresh green leaves, determined to grow once again.
We would love to go to UK this Christmas time and invite a responsible, caring volunteer or couple to come and stay here to take care of our animals and home.
The house is cosy and warm with a log burner and hot water heater, vermicompost toilet and internet. The land has a natural dipping pool for cold water plunging and a 2nd house perfect for an indoor yoga practice or as a workspace. We are 15 minutes walk to the local village and there are so many beautiful nature spots around to visit.
If you wished to get your hands dirty while staying...
The Ongoing Tasks.....
The garden is a continuous project which always requires lots of love, composting, weeding, preparing, planting and harvesting and is a great opportunity for sharing knowledge, experience and ideas with each other. We are no garden experts, but we have learned some things through our trials and errors and are very happy to share what we know.
We currently have 4 sheep who we love very much and are amazing lawn mowers! We would love them to be able to manage more of the land, so we would like to do some fencing to keep them out of gardens! Ultimately we would also like to create a bigger animal shelter to house the new additions that come along annually and this is a great thing to do as a team. It is satisfying work and if you have done it before or not, there is always some problem solving and creativity involved!
Our land is between the villages of Pomares and Corgas. Pomares has one of the cleanest river beaches in this area with a cafe/bar, small village shop, tiny hardware store, post office, Saturday butchers, visiting veg van and daily bread van. There are many river beaches in this area and beautiful mountains. The towns of Oliveira do Hospital, Arganil and Tabua are all around 30 mins drive away and have weekly markets. The city of Coimbra is around 1 hour 15 mins drive. Porto airport is about 2 1/2 hours drive and Lisbon about 3 hours. The most straight forward way of travelling here is by car but there are other options. This area is quiet and remote, peaceful and gradually filling with nature again. It is a place to come and slow down. Nothing happens with any speed. The local community here are Portuguese, we are among very few estrangeiros in this village, however there is an International mix of people wider afield. There are regular estrangeiro markets in the villages of Coja and Benfeita and we are part of a nice size community of multinational families within the area.
We look forward to hearing from you.
With love, the family
Types of help and learning opportunities
Language practice
Help with Eco Projects
Teaching
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Babysitting and creative play
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Help with Computers/ Internet
Interests
Van life
Sustainability
Self development
Pets
Farming
Events & social
Culture
Writing
Plant care
Performing arts
Music
Languages
Gardening
DIY & crafts
Cooking & food
Carpentry
Books
Animals
Yoga / Wellness
Outdoor activities
Nature
Fitness
Dancing
Cycling
Camping
Beach
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We are an English speaking family who still feel new to living in Portugal. We are learning to speak Portuguese and we are learning about running a Quinta and live off grid. Every day there is so much to learn. Those who come to join us here will learn with us, from us or will teach us. Justin is experienced in Carpentry and Joinery and Tamzin practices and teaches dance and yoga. We try to live our lives in an open hearted way and welcome travellers from all cultures and walks of life to share the culture from which we came and that which we are now immersing ourselves in.
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
We are very happy to welcome people who are enthusiastic and self motivated. Those who like to be outdoors, enjoy nature and animals and are happy to participate in a variety of tasks. Portuguese speakers are very welcome as are those who love to cook, dance, play and sing!
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Portuguese: Intermediate
Spanish: BeginnerThis host offers a language exchange
This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
You can contact them directly for more information.
Accommodation
Accomodation will be in our stone house
What else ...
We would love to welcome people here to join us who are interested in helping out, getting stuck in to the work and family life but we also want them to enjoy their own time and space and make the most of the experience of being in this area. We have a family car and would be very happy to take people out with us when we are going places anyway. There are also local buses which you can catch to go as far as Lisbon or as near as the other mountain villages. There are beautiful walks and river beaches to enjoy. We have dipping pools and hammocks and plenty of space for contemplation. Tamzin is also so happy to share movement practices with anyone interested in that.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Space for parking camper vans
We have loads of space for campervans. We have a place where you can fill with water. We are an organic farm with vermicompost toilet so have no place for emptying chemical toilet.
Can possibly accept pets
Pets that don't chase other animals are very welcome
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
My animals / pets
Martha
Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host
Feedback (18)
From feeding the sheep in the morning to gardening and taking care of the olive trees, every task allowed us to connect with nature and learn… read more
Photos
Chat with Workawayers who've visited this host
Feedback
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Accuracy of profile:
(4.9)
Cultural exchange:
(4.8)
Communication:
(5.0)
From feeding the sheep in the morning to gardening and taking care of the olive trees, every task allowed us to connect with nature and learn… read more
After a hot working day, we went swimming in the refreshing rivers.
Cooking, dancing, being in the garden, meeting people,… read more
We ate incredibly, laughed so much, and got… read more
If you're thinking of getting in touch, stop what you're doing right now and drop them a message.
You couldn't ask for a more wonderful family in a more wonderful setting. We spent two weeks in this delightful corner of Portugal and every aspect of the workaway was perfect. I… read more
Thank you Victoria xxx
I met this wonderful family over the last 3 weeks and I've spent some quality moments there. They are so inspiring and welcoming on their Quinta that you feel very comfortable to spend time with them (even for excursions to the superb rivers ect..!!)
They have make their… read more
We got so much done with their help and they were always doing extra things like washing up and putting in extra… read more
We stayed in the motorhome and Justin and Tamzin made always sure that we're happy and have everything we need.
In the first week we shared the work and community area with two other workawayers which was nice as well :) The main… read more
I stayed in the horsebox, there is a nice cozy bed and you have your… read more
They are such lovely people to be around !
It was nice to see the land change with the seasons and do different tasks. We've been pruning the olives and the vines, we've helped the to set the yurt (which unfortunately didn't bare the wind), we took care of the garden, planted… read more
I have beautiful memories of this past month together. I never felt alone, both because the charge of children overwhelms you, and… read more
