Yes we are back into our favorite farming Scene .in fact we have been here in Sumy North East UKR for week we pull back to Kiev Tomorrow but this area has been receiving our containers of aid for some years now as we have the best connections here that can get the paperwork done and it is smooth sailing . Folk like Anna who is a poewerhouse on energy and Knows folk all over the region .And Larrissa who knows the right People .
Victor our right hand man in Vinnitsa is with us again as Translater and this time Driver. We hired a car for this trip and they would not accept my Australian Drivers Licence . I had an international one at one stage and opinion was it was not worth the paper it was written on . I have driven in the UK and the Usa on the right Side in 2015 for 30000 kls
So Victor has risen to the challenges as the roads out here are very bad . For Aussies the Gib river road is a good one! It took us hour and half to travel 50 kls yesterday afternoon out to quite a large town Called Lebaden and we had to come home in the dark. but as usual we were given a great welcome with many questions about farming in Australia and they seem quite chuffed when we tell them their crops leave ours for dead
For a country that has such rich resources the culture is overwhelmingly bad.
The road system is chaotic the town streets are as bad and the infrustucture is tired and depressing.
The soviet style blocks of flats 9 stories high with a flat on bothsides on each floor from each entry door are now 35 40 years old and the lift systems are old and desperately need fixing 25% of lifts are too dangerous to use so you find folks hauling their groceries and goods up to 9 floors in all buildings . Security is high with double locks on all flat entry doors and an electric lock on the main entry door as Victor says Ukrainians suffer but they seem to accept it as if nothing can be done to stop the corruption.
Their is a Bunnings style supermarket just around the corner with everything you could want or need but most people are not working or maybe one partner is working .
Over all is sense of forboding as they try to deal with just living with Russia and corrupt leadership pressuring them on all sides .
There are some good roads note the speed limits on the Keiv/ Karkiv freeway
McEwen Farming and Family Stuff 