Day 8 – Hemet & San Josinto

Today the team had a very informative day visiting a variety of services and organizations in the Hemet and San Josinto areas. Thanks to Reagan White (Hemet) who spent the day ferrying the team around.

The first port of call was to visit students at the McSweeny Junior High who are part of the PRYDE program. There was an opportunity for the team to introduce themselves and then to take some Q & A from the year 8 students who participated in the program. The students asked some really great questions about Australia and the team was able to dispel some myths as well.

The next stop was a visit to Larry Minor Racing where they make off rode buggies which can be raced in a sport called Sand Drag Racing. We were informed that buggies that compete in this sport can do 100 yards in approximately 3 seconds.

For lunch, the team traveled to a combined meeting of the Rotary Clubs of Hemet Sunrise, Hemet and San Josinto. The team did their club presentation and was treated to a rousing rendition of Waltzing Matilda from a combined choir of the members of the clubs.

Thanks to the Clubs for hosting a fantastic lunch meeting.

In the afternoon, the team traveled to Hemet Airport where they met with members of the California Department of Fire Air Unit. At this unit, they use fixed wing and rotary wing helicopters to support firefighting response in southern Californi

a. They use a variety of aircraft including the Grumman fixed wing water bomber and the Bell Heuy Helicopter. The team got a tour of the base and they met the firefighters and pilots. Whilst present at the base, the team saw two aircraft mobilize for a fire response to a fire burning on Catalina Island which is off the coast of California.

The team then headed over to the next hangar to meet with Sergeant Steven Bertling who heads up the Riverside County Sheriffs Air Wing. The team got a tour of the site and saw the base in action. The Unit uses Jet Rangers and AStar AS350 Helicopters. The unit has 5 helicopters in use.

The team then traveled to the Western Centre for Archeology and Paleontology where they had a tour of the facility. The Centre has fossils found in the Hemet region and the fossils date back to the ice age and includes Mammoths and Giant Sloths.