Saturday was the Maffra Agricultural Show, the local fair. It was great to see some of the livestock of the local farmers, as well as see an aspect of Australians that most Canadians don't get to see. The highlights of the show were the dog high-jumping competition and the Beaute Utes muster.
The ute is an Australian icon, as Australian as the kangaroo. It started out in 1933 here in Gippsland when a farmer's wife wrote to Ford, asking for a vehicle that "we can go to church in on Sunday without getting wet, and my husband can use it to take the pigs to market on Monday?" (apparently trucks didn't have roofs?). Being that it was the depression, farmers couldn't get a loan for two vehicles, and therefore a combination of a truck and a passenger car was ideal. Customer service also existed back then, and Ford read the letter, and Ford Australia's design department, Lew Bandt came up with a design, and remarked to the plant supervisor that "them pigs are going to have a luxury ride". Australians now seem to use the term ute for anything with a truck bed, whether it has the passanger car front or not - even a large truck such as a Ford F250.
A ute muster is an activity that embodies Australian culture in rural areas. The idea is simply to get as many utes as possible in one location. The Guiness World Record for most utes at a muster was broken earlier this month, in Deniliquin NSW, with over 7000 utes. Ute owners have some sort of obsession with bumper stickers, often covering the rear window, or entire rear of the ute with stickers.
This coming weekend is the Sale Show, and we might attend that one as well.
As always, more pictures located at flickr.
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