The time between January and Easter seemed endless. We started to look at what equipment we might need, but knowing we wouldn’t be able to get it there until the summer, when we took the car. This did help to temper the excitement, but still time seemed to drag.
We purchased a petrol brush cutter with a strimmer head as we knew we needed some mechanical help to keep the ground clear and as we had no power yet it had to be petrol driven. We also brought a generator big enough to power a dirty water pump and we also brought 100 metres of 1” flat hose. This should help us to pump the water up from the well to at least water the trees when we were there.
There were several emails between us and Paulo and Maria as they tracked down an architect they thought would be suitable. The architect they found was based in Fundão, which was about 20min to the north and was the council base for the area our property was located in. They felt sure that using a local architect would help with the process as they would be close to the local rules and regulations and probably well known with the council.
Everything was set up we just had to let them know when we were in Portugal and they would arrange an introductory meeting.