Recap: The Amazing Race 13, Episode 4 – “I hope they don’t eat my mom.”

The Leg
The Pit Stops have been a little more interesting this season as we get the next chapter in the flying sports bra mystery with the two parties discussing more about it before the start of the leg. 

Teams make their way to Auckland, New Zealand and drive themselves to Gulf Harbour.  There, they’ll untie a Gordian knot to retrieve the clue inside.

Before leaving Bolivia, teams scatter around El Alto internatonal airport looking for an internet connection to find the best flight to Auckland.  While there’s only one flight, one that arrives at 3:55am, the tension is still high.  Aja & Ty have a little fight after she gets frustrated with him when trying to look for flights.

The teams board their flight and touch down in Auckland in the middle of the night as they rush outside to find the marked cars.

They drive on the other side of the road into the night towards Gulf Harbour.  Marisa & Brooke, already in last, get lost while Aja & Ty blow a tire.  A Good Samaritan stops and helps them change their tire.

Teams stick close to each other and arrive at the harbor and search the marina for the knot.  Ken & Tina and Andrew & Dan untie their knots first to find the clue saying they must now make their way to the Summit of Mount Eden, a dormant volcano and the city’s highest point, for the next one.

But there is another clue inside the knot; the first of only 2 Fast Forwards in the entire Race.
In this Fast Forward, teams must go to the Auckland Sky Tower, the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere. There, they will climb the maintenance ladders all the way up to the highest point to pick up “a friend” and their next clue.

Andrew & Dan and Ken & Tina both go for the Fast Forward, but Ken & Tina arrive first with Superbad deciding on moving forward with the rest of the leg.

While Ken & Tina are climbing up the tower, the other teams arrive at Mount Eden, where they drive up the summit to find their next clue, a Road Block.
In this Road Block, teams must match a picture of a Maori tattoo with the tattoo on the face of a Maori warrior.  If they’re right, they’ll get a clue and an Eskimo kiss from the warrior.  If they’re wrong, the warrior will take the picture and run away with the teams having to start  again.

Still just before dawn, Terence searches in the dark for the right tattoo and does in 2 tries.

They get their next clue which tells them to drive to the City Life Hotel and head up to the rooftop for their next clue.

Kelly & Christy, ever the detailed Racers, can’t find the road up to the summit and instead hike up the volcano.  The sun rises with Toni & Dallas moving on in 2nd, while back at the harbor, Marisa & Brooke have just arrived walking past the knot one time.

In the front of the pack, Terence & Sarah are at the hotel with their next clue.
On the rooftop, teams must use binoculars to find our good ol’ friend, the Travelocity roaming gnome doing one of the New Zealand wish list activities.  They’ll then have to figure out its location to get the clue at the bottom of the gnome.

Back to the Fast Forward, Ken & Tina make their way up the swaying top of the tower to find the gnome waiting for his ride down the tower.

At Mt. Eden, Kelly & Christy beat Superbad and run down the mountain first while Dan has absolutely no idea what the warrior is trying to do to him.   

Terence & Sarah find their gnome, Toni & Dallas find theirs quick, and Ken & Tina make their way to their helicopter that will take them to the next Pit Stop, Summerhill.

For the rest of the teams, the roaming gnome tells them to go to the town of Te Puke and the local landmark, Kiwi 360… a giant kiwi.

There, teams find the Detour.
In this Detour, teams will choose between A Matter of Time or a Matter of Skill.
In Matter of Time, teams drive to a kiwi orchard where they must do a Lucy and use their feet to get 12 quartz of kiwi juice.  Then each of them will drink a glass of juice for the next clue.
In Matter of Skill, teams drive to Blokart Heaven and assemble two blokarts and then use them to sail 3 laps around a course for their next clue.

Terence & Sarah choose Matter of Time and finish easily. 
That’s not the story for Toni & Dallas, Andrew & Dan, and Nick & Starr who can’t stand their rocks at the bottom of their bins and the mere trickling of their juice and decide to switch detours.

In the midst of what seems like hundreds of sheep, Ken & Tina descend from their helicopter to meet Phil and a dapper older man at the mat.  He reveals himself to be “Phil’s dad” and they congratulate Ken & Tina for being 1st for the 3rd leg in a row.
They win a 7 night trip to Rio.

Terence & Sarah arrive at Summerhill and check-in 2nd.
Meanwhile, Kelly & Christy smash their way through the kiwis as Toni & Dallas sail through the Detour with them finishing 3rd and 4th respectively.

Andrew gets frustrated as Dan stays calm, while Starr crashes twice and eventually scrapes and seemingly breaks her arm.  They all eventually finish (Starr in pain) and make their way to the sheep on the hill.  Nick & Starr are 5th and Andrew & Dan are 6th.

The last two teams head late into the evening as darkness falls.  Aja & Ty switch from the kiwis to the blokarts while Brooke & Marisa hurry through the kiwis.

It’s a race to the mat as Aja & Ty come out in 7th with the Southern Belles being Philiminated.

Overall
An even more awesome leg than last week.  It was an exciting, non-stop episode.

It was great to see the teams running around at night, which we don’t usually get too much of, thanks to Hours of Operation (real or TAR-induced).  It almost makes it a little more exciting seeing just them running around without any bystanders or anyone wandering out ready for them to be asked to help.

The teams have stayed very close to each other so far this entire Race.  Which in a way is good thing since it keeps things exciting. 

How awesome was it to get to go to New Zealand, Phil’s homeland?  And was the sheep-filled Summerhill Phil’s homeland, literally? 

It was a nice surprise to see a dapper Mr. Keoghan standing next to his son on the mat.  You’d think he would’ve already appeared before the 13th season!  Hehe.

The Maori warriors were fun if not energetic.  They could certainly get your blood going early in the morning.  And the nose touch was a nice… touch I guess.  I was surprised, I definitely didn’t expect that.  

The Road Block isn’t something new, but it was a new take on a familiar TAR task of the past.

 The Detour was an interesting one since either could’ve been an all right choice.  Toni’s Lucy reference made me love them even more. 

It seems like every season I go into my Fast Forward rant.  So just a quick one this time around.  

Bring back the FF to every leg of the Race.  Logistics and cost, I understand, but they could easily come up with something both easy to organize and cost-efficient for every leg.  The FF has become meaningless since it began to pop up once or twice in a Race instead of every leg.  And the FF has always been an amazing source of tension, drama, and happiness when it was a fixture. 
Bring back the real Fast Forward!!
[/rant]

And of course we got a visit from our favorite roaming gnome.  At least it was in a fresh way this time.

Overall, my favorite leg of the TAR13 so far.  The season just keeps getting better and better, I think.