A Day in the Life of a Land Rover Experience Instructor
November 20, 2007 on 1:07 pm | In Off-road Driving |
Written on behalf of Lead Instructor Will Cox
The day starts well as I drive to work in my Disco 300TDI (sad I know!) listening to Wogan on Radio 2 deciding whether I should be a Togmeister or not! Believe it or not it’s the only radio channel I can get in my Landy!Anyway I arrive at Land Rover Experience Scotland in Dunkeld, dump my kit and go down to the office to see what the day has instore. I have some how got myself into a position where the day could take me anywhere from 1 hour 4×4 sessions, a Prospect client from Land Rover or a good old half day Off Road Experience or even an enjoyable Level 2.It’s a good mixed day, I have a Half Day Experience in a real Land Rover (Defender of course), then the afternoon in the Range Rover Sport for a prospect client.
So after winding up the girls in the office and picking up my radio for the day, I go back up to sort out and do my daily checks on both vehicles and line them up with the other vehicles that are going out for that day. All’s well with the vehicles, surprising as Rick had been out in the Defender yesterday and it’s clean!! I kit out the Defender with our basic safety equipment needed for the day, do my radio check with the office and wait for a call from the office when my guests arrive.Time for a quick gulp of coffee and a crack with the boys, a quick look at the names of our clients and decide from their names what kind of folk they will be like. (all in the best possible taste) How about this – Ms Kate Maitland Smythe in the Defender and Zac Macgregor in the Sport, interesting! (well the morning could be)
Call comes through on the radio and I go around to meet and introduce myself to my morning guest. I gather up all the half day Experience clients and take them upstairs, after a welcome I run through a Health and Safety briefing and then deliver a presentation on the technology of the vehicles and principles of off road driving. (yes even the Defender has some technology creeping into it)
Then it is out to introduce Ms Kate to the Defender with an exterior and interior walkround, all the time I am gathering info on my client finding out their off road experience, background and what she is looking for from the day. (apart from a damm good looking instructor!!) My client is a farmer’s daughter who now breeds Hunters and owns a Defender 90, this is ideal so I can base my morning around this info.
After the vehicle walkaround and a Demonstration drive taking in the five elements, up and down hill, side slopes, mud / ruts and water, I get my client driving, there is lots of questioning, interaction and comparisons with Defender 90 and 110. The morning ends with a de-brief and present my client with a Half Day Experience certificate say my good byes, then head up and clean my vehicle.To be continued…
Annette Drummond
http://www.highlandoffroad.com
Loves all types of off-roading, mostly quad biking and Land Rovers
