Amazing Race update – Heading Down Under

Team started out from Jabreen Castle, Oman and had to make their way over 9000 miles to Perth, Australia. Because they came in last on the previous leg, BJ & Tyler have no money while the other teams start out with $181. Team Kukla leave $20 in the hippies’ car while the Frat Boys leave a $100 IOU. My dislike for them instantly rises to the surface once again. On the way to the airport, though, Team Burning Man picks up a hitchhiker who happens to be the most generous Bedouin in Oman. At the local gas station, he pays for their gas, some juice and a couple of Snickers bars. The hippies race to the airport where they just barely make the plane to the consternation of the other teams, especially Team Mojo. Monica whispers: “I hate the hippies.”

Once in Perth, teams have to take a taxi to King’s Park for the next clue. While in the cab, BJ & Tyler reveal that they panhandled $300 while on the plane proving once again that the non-elimination leg penalty is almost meaningless. At King’s Park, teams find the clue directing them to Rottnest Island; since the first ferry to the island doesn’t leave until morning, all teams are bunched up again.

Morning breaks and all five teams pile onto the ferry taking them to the island. After they arrive, the teams must take tandem bikes 3 miles to a lighthouse and the next clue. Team Frat Boys take the lead while Ray & Yolanda – who have thighs like tree trunks – somehow fall to last place. After the lighthouse clue, teams bicycle to Salmon (?) Bay and the Detour: Sand or Sea. They may either drag a pile of branches 126 meters from one side of the beach to the other, or dive down in a marked area and retrieve two crayfish. Team Frat Boys and Mojo put on Speedos while the other teams drag branches. Monica and Joseph put to bed any doubt that they are illiterate by failing to read the clue correctly yet again: they return with one crayfish, not two, and have to go back into the ocean.

After the Detour, team had to bike back to the ferry dock (mucho biking!) and head to Fremantle and the abandoned prison. Eric & Jeremy just barely make the first ferry off the island, earning them a significant time advantage. It’s a ferry frenzy and taxi tornado as team try to break into prison. Once there it’s the Roadblock: one team member must first search a cellblock and find a Duracell flashlight and four Coppertop batteries. From Duracell! (/end product placement). Then they must descend into underground tunnels (previously used to bring fresh water into the prison) and search for the next clue. Despite their time advantage, Team Frat Boys can’t find the tunnel entrance and Jeremy bounces off one wall to another. Team Mojo arrives and Joseph finds the entrance only a couple of minutes behind Jeremy. After some dark searching, Jeremy finds the next clue which directs teams to the Fremantle Sailing Club and the Pit Stop.

After leaving the prison, a cab driver tells Team Frat Boys that the sailing club is just a mile down the road and they can walk there. They do. Monica and Joseph, meanwhile, pile into their waiting cab. It’s man vs. machine and these two teams need to sprint out onto a jetty where Phil is waiting on the mat. The Frat Boys edge out Team Mojo by two steps and grab first place. The remaining teams arrive and leave the prison in the same order and, despite a tremendous run, Fran & Barry fall to last place and are eliminated.

Final standings:

#1 – Team Frat Boys – Eric & Jeremy – Prize: Trip to Hong Kong
#2 – Team MoJo – Monica & Joseph
#3 – Team Burning Man – BJ & Tyler
#4 – Team Volcano – Ray & Yolanda
#5 – Team Kukla – Fran & Barry – PHILIMINATED

Next week: Crikey! It’s crocodiles!

Extra – Check out the recaps from Kris and Pat for more TAR fun.