They call me the Wanderer

I've been getting around a bit recently (in a geographical sense, of course).

My pupil, Verity, is moving from Nairn to Aviemore. I have been teaching her in Inverness, but her nearest TC will now be Grantown-on-Spey. I don't usually cover that area (I leave that in Bridget's capable hands), but Verity wants me to continue to teach her. It's going to be a bit of a trek, but she has agreed to take 3 hour lessons to make it worth my while. Anyway, yesterday we decided to have a drive over to Grantown to have a wee look at the challenges it will present. Grantown is a lovely town (although there are a couple of tricky bits), but it was worth it for the drive over there. I have never seen the Rowan trees so full of berries (Verity claims it is a sign of a snowy winter to come, but she would say that as she is a keen snowboarder) and, with the glens changing to their autumnal colours, it was quite spectacular.

Then today, I had a new pupil, Katie, in Hopeman, a new location for me (see photo). If you watched Fiona Bruce's story on BBC's Who do you think you are?, then you may recognise the name, as it is where much of family comes from. It is a scenic harbour town, similar to several others on the Moray coast; a bit like a 'mini-Lossiemouth'. It is also great for teaching 'closed' junctions (junctions where you cannot see if it is safe to emerge until close to the 'give way' line). A really promising first lesson for Katie and I am looking forward to teaching in the area.

Finally, congratulations to Mark. He passed his test yesterday on his first attempt. He picked up an unusual minor fault - He was in 5th gear, at 60mph, and was asked to turn left. While slowing down, he changed to 3rd gear before slowing further and changing to 2nd. He was given a minor fault for 'unnecessary gear change'. OK, I agree it wasn't necessary, but I think it was a little harsh to fault him for it. Nevermind, 'a pass is a pass' as they say and Mark easily deserved his success. Best of luck for the future Mark.

Time to go. I have an early start tomorrow as I am picking Stephanie up from Cawdor at 7am for her 8.40 test. Very confident about Stephanie, despite her only having 24 hours from scratch (and no practice with friends or family). We shall see....