I'm not well enough to go through all of our adventures as many of you will already have picked up the story of the splendid trip through our blogs on the road from Chisinau in Moldova. It's a shame that I've ended up with a stomach complaint as it was a terrific trip. Back home Mandy had to contend with the installation of the new boiler and plumbing and of course pulling off the DVD orders as well as preparing them for posting. Its certainly been a busy week home and away and as you haven't had the many well no photos I though I'd start at the end and work backwards to the beginning and in the first sequence is the health and safety free zone of pole erection on the Balti trolleybus system, it will appear in detail in our DVD. We have probably chalked up yet more firsts with another country added to our transport coverage the tiny autonomous republic of Gagauzia. Quotes from Google.
Support for the Soviet Union remained high, with a referendum in March 1991 returning an almost unanimous vote in favour of remaining part of the USSR. Many Gagauz supported the Moscow coup attempt in August 1991, and Gagauzia declared itself independent on 19 August 1991, followed in September by Transnistria, thus further straining relations with Chişinău. However, when the Moldovan parliament voted on whether Moldova should become independent on 27 August 1991, six of the 12 Gagauz deputies in Moldovan parliament voted in favour, while the other six did not participate. Eventually, the Moldovan government toned down its pro-Romanian stance and paid more attention to minority rights.[citation needed]

In February 1994, President Mircea Snegur promised the Gagauz autonomy, but he was against outright independence. He was also opposed to the suggestion that Moldova become a federal state made up of three republics: Moldova, Gagauzia, and Transnistria.

Also in 1994, the Parliament of Moldova awarded to "the people of Gagauzia" (through the adoption of the new Constitution of Moldova) the right of "external self-determination". On 23 December 1994, the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova accepted the "Law on the Special Legal Status of Gagauzia" (Gagauz: Gagauz Yeri), resolving the dispute peacefully. This date is now a Gagauz holiday. Gagauzia is now a "national-territorial autonomous unit" with three official languages: Romanian, Gagauz, and Russian.

Three cities and 23 communes were included in the Autonomous Gagauz Territory: all localities with over 50% Gagauz, and those localities with between 40% and 50% Gagauz which expressed their desire to be included as a result of referendums to determine Gagauzia's borders. In 1995, Georgi Tabunshik was elected to serve as the Governor (Romanian: Guvernator, Gagauz: Bașkan) of Gagauzia for a four-year term, as were the deputies of the local parliament, "The People's Assembly" (Gagauz: "Halk Toplușu"), with Petr Pashali as chairman.

Dmitrii Croitor won the 1999 governor elections and began to make use of the rights granted to the governor by the 1994 agreement. The central authorities of Moldova proved unwilling to accept the results initiating a lengthy stand-off between the autonomy and Chişinău. Finally Croitor resigned in 2002 due to the pressure from the Moldovan government, which accused him of abuse of authority, relations with the separatist authorities of Transnistria and other charges.Girhazier

The photos all; in Balti yesterday

we have had a superb week in Moldova and thevteo autonomous republic really it all ended on a very good note at balti in the north of Moldova. we got a taxi there which was comfortable but only the same time to cover the route as the bus home at a fraction of the price. it was forecast to be nearly 100 degrees but cloud cover lowered the temp in balti. the trolleybus scene had changed no end in the last 11 years and there are now all five routes operational again and quite frequent. my knee was still very bad but ui was determined to manage without painkillers today. I had a horrendous time trying to sort out the Turkish airline flight whichnopodo had changed without telling me as well as cancelling another, ill be claiming refunds through nat west black case when we return home. both companies are outrageous and not to be trusted I still have no boarding cards for the thoughts which were supposed to be getting sent to reception. the hotel room has been good but we ate atvrthe brewery nearby ad the flower best western in Chisinau had surly staff and loud music in the restaurant

so here we are just one more full day to go on this trip which hereto has been most successful and cartainly a worthy follow upnto our first trip here 11 years ago. it was a very hot day with temperatures around 38 degrees which is enough to get the sweat running down into your eyes. we too the earlbtraib which we had booked blast night and arrived after some lengthy pauses at tiraspil where our guide Andrei was waiting to greet us. we saw lots of sights we had missed on our previous visit although a few trolley circulars would have probably seen us right. and did was at the limits of his knowledge and despite confirming the itinerary had done nothing to secure the trolleybus dept visits which whilst not that important tooknup valuable time. the fleet of beneath and that of tiraspil seems to be two separate undertakings and certainly this time bendsry seemed the most busy and populated destination of the two. hen the guid walked us to the second tiraspil station where I took the second tramafil painkiller when stopped the worst of the pain. we than sent on to bendsry which was very lively and having sem the dead second railway station filled a few minutes before so got the trolley back to tiraspil where the people were enjoying their simmers day on the artificial beach on the banks of the river I'm not sure if I would wish to swim in this brown mess despite the temptations brought on by the heat. tomorrow we go to the other trolleybus operating oem of balti.

well lots of things have happened and in case the site crashes as usual I'll try and post as quickly as possible as it is almost bed time being rtwo hours ahead of gmt. the flight was fine I met Martin at the lounge in Gatwick and we managed to down several glasses of merkit etc before we boarded the Kate flight to Kiev which wasn't too unpleasant although there were no free drinks or food and with the delay it seemed to last forever but when we got to Kiev there was a mad panic and chose at the transfer desk to get boarding cards for the Chisinau Moldova flight but this too was delayed and we managed to get food and wine at th exic lounge in Kiev before the fifty minute flight to Chisinau. anyone familiar with the city knows the cosmos hotel and roundaboutbut due to road works this major part of the trolley system is off in one direction and we had to struggle to find good photograph positions in the city which we did although of course my left leg was hurting quite a bit not helped by the cracked and uneven paving stones. eventually we hot good shots and then headed by trolley to the city centre long distancebusstatiob which was chaotic, mostly there are minibudesberyfew long distance full size coaches to be seen. we then took sminbus to the southern bus station at the end of a couple of trolley routes and eventually found a bus to contact the capital of the tiny republic in the csouth made up of Turkish ethinic Christians who speak only Russian. tiny place but red hot had beer and hung around small bus station and saw a few tucks before catching the only ful size coavhbavk to Chisinau although it was slower than minibuses it was more comfortable.had dinner tonight at the microbrewery near the hotel goof beer and food now ready for bed the weird and wonderful pmr awits us tomorrow by train tickis for which we purchased at some length this morning..

we were up in good time this morning and were down at Worthing rally site just after seven am. it started to rain within minutes but we did eventually battle against the elements to get the basic stand erectedand even got the stock in place and I went off to film the buses arriving in the shelter of the back of the toilet block and yes the facility did come in usual as well. there was a good show of buses coming in despite the fiul weather but the rain got heavier and the wind increased. eventually I had to go back to the sales stand and we fought the elements to get the stock back into the van and then dismantle the stand. it was a frightful battle and I did drop one of the stand posts on my foot. my knee was up like a balloon and we were drenched and bedraggled. we decided that it wasn't really worth staying as my knee was hurting and Mandy was frozen all the stands at the charity event further down had left ages before most didn't even try to set up so the bus people were made of sterner stuff. there were about thirty five busesbut I saw more arrive as we left I should think about twenty five Southdown related, they did start the published services but by this stage we were on our way out. we did manage to sell most of the old bus stop signs Wed taken down with us well most were Southdown origins so pleased to see them go to local homes and this paid the expenses for the weekend. we are just about to have an early dinner at the hotel and then Mandy drives back up north and I fly out to Moldova in the morning, hopefully I've checked I. OK although still trying to get the boarding card printed lets hope good internet on the road best wishes from the UK and a typical high simmer weekend weather.

well weebky has already crashed once I waited until all the apps had updated but even that hasn't cured the problem. anyway we set off about six thirty this morning and stopped to top up with liquid at the m25 services and finally crawled into Croydon and spent ages trying to find a disabled parking spot as most were suspended due to a carnival. the weather was fine and mostly sunny I got some good shots including a few trams which are looking a bit rough in places. the croydon south bus station is being rebuilt but actually I ended up in a good spot for more buses and trams. getting out of Croydon to the a23 to Brighton seemed a lot easier than getting in earlier in the day. Crawley was a little cloudy some black ones as well and a couple of spots of rain. there were some 15reg buses and generally it was OK with plenty of waves from the drivers just as there was in London . we finished off and indeed my leg was finished off and arrived at the hotel just after 5 pm. we are going out tonight three horse shoes to eat then its upnsharpnto get down for Worthing bus rally which the BBC is showing as heavy rain all day but other forecasts show rainy periods or showers so well gobss planed and keep fingers crossed. the wind will be toonstrong for covers sobwillmputs phots in the van and leave the kids on most of the DVD boxes and a cover ready to drag across when it rains perhaps you'll make it there. then we drive back to Gatwick have dinner and then Mandy leaves me here and heads up to friend sues at Cannock and I'm ready to meet up with Martin for our flight via Kiev to Chisinau in Moldova.

Last Saturdays forecast for Alton rally looked pretty grim but in the end it turned out pretty good lets hope that magic can be applied to Worthing for Sunday as at present it is showing raij nearly all day and it doesn't get worse than being on the seafront completely exposed to the elements. This will be our last blog from home until next Friday night, I'll try to get it done on the road but last weekend it proved impossible from Eastleigh and we are at Premier inns for the first two nights then I fly off to Moldova where the temperature is very very high dipping back to a balmy 90 degrees perhaps by mid week. I've just done the packing with Mandy for the trip and sorted out all the documents. We never did get the refunf back from Opodo so will have to pursue it through the legal section which looks after the black card. I also lost the Hilton booking for Heathrow because of the cancellation of the LOT flight which was done very soon after we had booked, I'd never use LOT again ever nor Opodo both are rogues it seems and the reviews are a catalogue of peoples travel misery.

We are on Ukraine Int flight on Monday to Moldova, I'm meeting up with Martin at the exec lounge, as its so busy there in the mornings I've reserved two places so we can get all tanked up for the journey as its a no frills nothing provided sort of deal just like dear old Easyjet etc, even national carriers are now just as bad. We don't get to Chisinau until late evening , we would have arrived at late afternoon on the original flight, I noted that Ukraine were running an hour late today but better than trying to get through the channel tunnel where the French strikers are burning tyres on the roads and thousands of Africans are trying to storm the tunnel while the French police just stand by encouraging them to get though to the UK. I see they are introducing new measures on the Kent stacking system on the M20 from next week with a contraflow on one half of the motorway whilst the other contains the thousands of stacked lorries awaiting transit.

I managed to get to Bury today, altogether a quite unpleasant experience, I haven't been there for three years and they've altered the bus station with vehicles able to exit to the dual carriageway direct so not everything goes in and out before the camera but there was plenty of action going on as ever and I got a few shots of the Rosso Gallipoli bus celebrating the Lancashire Fusileers at the ill fated engagement where 5 VCs were won before breakfast. Rossendale sure have a huge fleet these days although little actually serves the home town.  There was plenty of abuse around and some ignorant old grunters and a scruffy chap who came over from the bus station and asked me if some random car was mine, weird indeed, then when I answered no he asked if I was sure, very very strange. There is a new car park near the town hall, it only cost £1.60 for the duration of my filming. On the positive side some really nice First Group drivers, one of whom had informed me about the Rosso Gallipoli bus. Some pictures then from Bury. Clips from the DVD will be on our Youtube channel and the DVD on the shop, Mandy will look after this when she gets back home next Tuesday. I will also get the film of the hedgehog and Fax feeding together in our garden loaded on the net.

There seems to be so much happening so quickly that we can hardly keep pace with it all and the clocks all seem to be ticking to different tempos. We went to the Spire for Mandys follow up consultation with Prof Jari the knee man and he is going to do an injection in a cyst in Mandys knee to inject steroid and release liquid if that doesn't work after a few weeks he'll do a steroid injection in the knee joint. I've asked work to finish me up with PILON and redundancy pay at the end of May otherwise it will get messy with lots of sick notes flowing in.

We visited the Southern Cemetary on the way to hospital, the base is down for the hardy memorial bench due August plus they have cleared the remains of the old tree trunk where it used to overlook the old bench opposite the new site. We are still working on a date for the opening, had an email from Tony O'Mahony who is with the friends of the Southern trying to fit it in and get support from them.

I'm dashing to get things done whilst we still have the medical cover,might get a steroid injection in the de-nerved left foot which is giving me hell. We did photos at Southern with Mandys phone but have no idea how we can download them, tried the lead from my little music gadget , forget what they are called but although it has the right lead my computer doesn't think the phone has any pictures, never tried it before anyway. We are off to the Golden Pheasant for a much needed pint. I was going to work from home tomorrow but there are things I need to get done so will go in first thing. I'm putting some clips fropm the Wigan film on our Youtube channel, all the recent releases are on the store page on this site.

Really struggling to get anything up on EBay this evening, I've managed to print out one order that's all the rest are just sitting there, can't print, can't leave feed back - all very frustrating. Its by no means the first time that I've struggled of an evening to get anything. It was a grotty day weather wise with cold wet cloudy miserable conditions. I went up to Wigan mainly to see what Rotala is running which seems to be a mix of inherited buses, Preston buses and Diamonds. I am trying to get both Stockport and Wigan ready tonight but I feel pretty well shot after an episode with my right hand last night , must be some sort of arthritus which swelled up and hurt and was still a bit sore in the morning, its getting worse as the day draws on although the knee wasn't as bad as yesterday.

I rang the pharmacy at the doctors in Holmes Chapel and hopefully Friday Mandy can pick up a fresh supply of Tramadol painkillers , the last batch lasted us nearly a year so not that addicted yet! I did a little bit of tidying in the garden and pulled up the spent flowers in the borders and the invasive weeds. Gemma next door has borrowed some rakes to hack the grass she tried to cut in their garden last weekend, I thought a helicoptor must have landed or they are making crop circles. I need to get all my editing gear packed away ready for the plumber fitting the new boiler in the small bedroom next week while I'm away in Moldova. Tomorrow Mandy has her appointment to follow up on the MRI scan of her knee we'll go up mid afternoon as the appointment is in the middle of rush hour in Manchester.

Here are a few shots from Wigan taken today. I met a very pleasant chap who guessed who I was, he's into local history rather than just buses but watches all the Youtube clips on Wigan

If you are going to run a spoof company to scam people having a name very similar to a reputable company is a good idea but in the heat of the moment and coming out cheapest on Skyscanner I fell for it and although the actual carrier LOT ( as in leaves a LOT to be desired) cancelled the flight a few days after I'd booked it with Opodo. Actually LOT and Opodo seem well matched and I'd advise both organisations be avoided like the plague. So months after booking and the cancellation of the service and having to shell out a second time we are still out of pocket so will ask the card provider to start a fraud investigation and claim a refund . It just shows you why it is preferable to use an agent sometimes but this is when the famous Manoj from Travel Councillors was ignoring us and thus why I booked on the net.
I did get a lunch time trip out to Stockport and recorded more than enough for a programme, the bus traffic flow has changed yet again and is now very good for photography or filming and from the over bridge running past the scene was superb as well as shot down below. The action was almost continuous, I had heard that there were new buses in service which was untrue but I didn't really mind at all. I may get some more Greater Manchester bus stations covered, its all a bit of a race against time as I go off to Moldova next week and then what with the redundancy from work and my knee replacement it's a headlong panic into getting things in good order.

I did spend some time in the garden this evening tidying up the errant grass and tieing back the shrubs and flowers. It's all looking quite colourful despite the poor weather and the constant winds. It's still very quiet on youtube we need viewers hitting more adverts especially in the school holiday season, I put the clips from Reading on last night. I've just finished burning the Guildford programme, next comes Alton and then of course Stockport. The covers up to Alton are all made and we are ready to send orders out tomorrow. I broke my vow not to buy more cine with a bit of a last minute bargain bid and fingers crossed it will have something of interest amongst it.