One of the many things that struck me about Australia was the number of 4x4's there were on the roads.In Britain, these are little more than status symbols. Most of them have never gone off-road in their lives. I've even seen them driven around large puddles on the road! A lot of them seem to be used for little more than the daily commute or taking the kiddies to school. Hence, the nickname they have over here of the 'Chelsea Tractor'.
In Australia though, they're something of a necessity: Away from the cities and the major coastal highways, the roads can be surprisingly dodgy, with large potholes appearing at regular intervals, even on the highways. And you still need to go off-road for many out-of-the-way places. The country is vast, with a lot of road. It must be difficult to keep up with it all, especially when you see the size of the lorries that pound these roads:-
So I guess I'm saying that my view of 4x4's (or 'utes' as the Aussies call them) has changed: You can't just hate them regardless, there are actually legitimate uses for them outside of farm vehicles. Just not in Britain ;-)
