Keeping Old Hags Warm and Dry.

Green and Yellow (Photo R. Freeman.)

Hagglunds, locally referred to as Hags, are over-snow tracked vehicles used at Australian Antarctic bases for a range of transport services. At Mawson there is a red one for fire service and green and yellow ones for search and rescue and general transport for trips away from station.

Q. Do you need a licence to drive in Antarctica?

A. Yes an Australian drivers licence is required to drive vehicles at Australian Antarctic bases. However that's not enough and further training at station is required for antarctic conditions and for vehicle recovery should things go wrong.

So it was off to Hag school for station staff. Half on Tuesday 29th and the rest on Wednesday 30th March.

First session in the morning we learned a lot about places people have taken hags and let them get cold and wet and in some cases lost them altogether. - Very sobering.

Fluid level and sensitive parts checking - (Photo I. Phillips)

After morning tea it was show and tell at the dieso's workshop where the inner workings of the hags was on view for all to see.
We were shown how to ensure our own personal protection by making the subtle checks required to keep all moving parts warm and well lubricated. 'Treat them kindly and with respect' Wilko said ' and they will serve you well'.

How big?

The take away messages where:

make sure they have plenty of fresh air when being worked,
after being exercised they need a few minutes to unwind before turning in for the night.
On a cold morning they start with a smile if internally warmed first. Half an hour with a Honda generator is usually sufficient.

We were shown a range of recovery gear should things not work out between us and the hag. Some really big pieces of hardware that we would later become very familiar with.