(Hours 79 & 80)

I received the letter with the test date and time yesterday, and it's set for 26th February... it's quite a good day, and it's the date that I had allocated during the process of rescheduling.. my only concern is that it's a morning! For the next few weeks running up to this date, I have booked in lessons to drive in the morning to get a feel of the amount of traffic I will be facing, and what it is like to drive before noon! I feel it is going to be hard for me to justify my system to accept the change of seeing the morning! Goodbye night drives!

I suddenly realised one thing today.... I'm losing my touch for the turn in the road, or what used to be known as the 3 point turn. I was asked to do one today on a narrow road, but I failed miserably! My 3 point turn had turned into a 7 point turn!!! After discussing the poor attempt, I was told that I had adapted the wrong technique to the width of the road! Next lesson, I will be taught a new way of handling this manoeuvre, and hopefully I will be able to complete my turn within 3 points regardless of the width of the road!

(Hours 77 & 78)

So it was very dangerous today... the atmosphere was very busy and the cost of checking my mirrors on a new road could have knocked over a school child today... luckily my instructor hit the brakes for me and saved the life of the little boy and all the paper work. It was a shock and I could honestly say I did not see the lonely child walking across the road, as my eyes were occupied on the mirrors. If the situation happened on the test, it could have resulted in a fail, since I was not aware of the pedestrian and the fact that my eyes were focused on the mirrors for 'too long'... but I am therefore speechless as I had only just come out onto the new road after making a hectic left turn.

(Hours 75 & 76)

The scenery was beautiful today and the weather was perfect! I drove to North Wales and absorbed the sunshine and fresh air while relaxing to my afternoon drive. Usually I drive around the busy town, so it was different to see the River Dee from high up, just before entering the sight of the Welsh mountains. The narrow winding path leading towards the top of a hill was breathtaking, and I wished to stop there and take some photographs.. but unfortunately, by the time I had finished asking my instructor whether this was possible, it was already too late as I had reached the peak and was getting ready to go downhill. However, I believe that I will drive there again in the near future.

Besides the beautiful scenery, everything else seems to be working out fine and the drive as a whole was rather smooth. There are no major errors within the driving anymore, but I just can't seem to lose the minor imperfections to make my driving perfect! Double roundabouts are not even a problem!

(Hours 73 & 74)

I drove the 'big boy' roads today as my instructor called them.... and finally I am beginning to like driving on them with the required speed! To be crazy, it felt like I was flying, and with a sense of achievement, the travelling speed soon slipped out the mind and I found myself shooting up to 62mph within no time! For a split second I thought I had gone over the speed limit, but luckily it's 70 on a dual carriageway.. so I was still safe within the limit!

My roundabout planning is developing further and my reactions are quicker than what they used to be.. now I can keep the car moving at a roundabout if it safe to do so, but in the past, I would always stop at the give way line. This would be marked down in the test for being too hesitant.

(Hours 71 & 72)

Most of the driving today was on the rural roads,.. this let me focus on different speeds and bendy tracks.. it was enjoyable and it benefited me and my confidence.... I kept in pace with the high speed roads and it let me understand that I was capable of controlling the car at such a high speed.... and most importantly without fear..

As the most improved aspect of my driving has been the manoeuvres, we are going to spend less time on these and concentrate on the main roads and dual carriageways... these are the main points I need to hammer in order to lose fear altogether whilst driving on them, as it is 100% certain that a high speed road will be incorporated as part of the test. Once a minor fault has occurred, the fear kicks back in again.. so I must forget it instantly and continue regardless, since the fault cannot be undone.

Today, I have been questioned what is my fear behind driving, but I could not answer... I don't know, I just know that I do not feel relaxed when I drive and I am always thinking of what is the worst that could happen... it is unnecessary for me to think in this way, as I have already proved to myself many times that I am able to drive!!

(Hours 69 & 70)

It's the first lesson of the year and it feels such a long time since I last drove! The Christmas break did me good and I seem to have lost all the errors that I committed in the last few lessons when I was ill! Even though I might have stopped short on a give way line, I never found myself stepping over it today.. it's a good thing as I could easily edge out to get a clearer view than to panic when I obstruct the traffic..

The highlight of the lesson would definitely have to be the reverse bay park... as the secret to my test will be a right bay park, I have been practising this today. The first reverse was not neatly parked into the bay so I pulled out and straightened up the car to complete the manoeuvre. As it is important to look through the rear window while reversing, I missed the 'over the right shoulder' observation and found the back of the car suddenly moving up and down.... I had mounted the kerb several times without even noticing how far I had already parked into the bay! Another secret is that the car park in the test centre has a fence framing it, so it is not possible to hit the kerb... but it is possible to hit the fence...!

The test date is currently being rescheduled and the lessons leading up to this date will focus on my planning and awareness skills.