Thanks Evo, thats bang on the money. It gives me a good broad brush handle on what to expect post PPL and its not as scary as I thought it would be.
I'd appreciate it if I could ask one more question. Do I need to have good technical/mechanical skills to secure a PPL? I'm a retired Accountant (never wanted to be one really) so handy with numbers etc but not at all a "hands on" kind of fella. I'm the guy who can't put the IKEA book rack together even with the instructions. Will this stop me passing PPL? I intend to fly rather than fiddle around with the plane but I guess you need to have a theoretical understanding of mechanics in order to pass the PPL?