| The Amazing Race Australia – Episode Six
The Leg
  
Tyler & Nathan open the first clue of the leg telling teams to fly to Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The surfers, Matt & Tom, Jeff & Luke, and Kelly & Dave are first at the airport and get on the flight leaving after 7pm while Alana & Mel, Sam & Renae, and Chris & Anastasia just manage to catch it.
All the teams get into Amsterdam and take either a taxi or train to Oud Hollands Gebakkraam food stand where they must buy and eat two Applebols, traditional doughnuts, before receiving their next clue.
Train takers Kelly & Dave and Jeff & Luke get to the Applebols first, down ’em, and get the next clue telling teams to take a train to Prague, Czech Republic. The first four teams get tickets to sleeper cabins while the last three teams have to spend the 15 hour train ride in seats.
Chris & Anastasia and Matt & Tom snatch up the last two sleeper tickets, leaving Sam & Renae, Tyler & Nathan, and an almost run-over Alana & Mel in seats.
It’s 9am and they arrive in Prague. Now teams must make their way to the Powder Tower, one of the old city gates, for their next clue. Tyler & Nathan’s taxi lets them off right next to the cluebox, but they don’t see it and instead decide to check inside the tower. The other teams follow them in.
  
Having been the last team to grab a taxi out of the train station, Alana & Mel have luck on their side and they easily spot the cluebox first. They open the clue telling them to head to Charles Bridge. “Once there, the holey statue will lead you to your next clue.”
All the teams head to the bridge and again walk around with their heads cut off. Chris points out the “holey” part of the clue and tells Alana & Mel and Tyler & Nathan they probably have to stick their hand into the statue for the next clue… and he’s right.
The three teams go grab the clue and find the Detour.
In Chivalry, teams dress up in armour and search the Old Town Square for a man who will give them a key if they ask “Do you have the key to the damsel’s heart?” They will then search the Square for a damsel in distress at the Hotel U Prince where they’ll exchange the key for a clue.
In Delivery, teams will have to carry a young princess in a royal sedan chair to the Narodni Galerie in Old Town Square for their next clue.
Alana & Mel, Chris & Anastasia, and Tyler & Nathan all choose Delivery, and it isn’t so easy for any of them. Thinking this, Kelly & Dave and Matt & Tom head over to Chivalry, but it isn’t exactly a walk in the park (or square) either.
  
As the teams struggle with carrying the little princess, Sam & Renae can’t even find either of the Detours. They run into Jeff & Luke who’ve chosen Delivery as well and Luke points towards the right direction, but girls decide to go the opposite way and then blame the father and son.
Tyler & Nathan manage to finish the Detour first and the little princess hands them the next clue, the Road Block. Teams must now head to a little medieval village by the river and choose one of the targets on an archery range. There, teams must hit the colored target twice before finishing the 40 given arrows. If they hit a bullseye, they’ll receive a bonus A$50 NAB card to use on the Race.
They head to the Road Block, Nathan takes care of the target and they head off to the Pit Stop at Prague Castle to check-in first, winning a A$5000 shopping spree at Kathmandu.
Chris & Anastasia finish the Detour next and Chris does the Road Block. He gets one, but has trouble hitting a 2nd. With only six arrows left, Chris pulls back and hits one right in the middle. They are handed their clue and their NAB card and check-in at the Pit Stop in 2nd.
  
At the Square, Kelly & Dave then Matt & Tom find the key and eventually find the damsel. Jeff & Luke catch up at the Road Block as Dave finishes first of the three. Matt hasn’t hit the target at all and he has no arrows left. He asks Dave for his spare arrows before he and Kelly leave, but he just laughs and runs off.
Luke hits the target and has about 30 arrows left. Matt asks him and Luke hands over all 30 of his arrows, hoping the gesture will help them in the future. Dave & Kelly decide to take a train to save money, but that allows taxi takers Jeff & Luke and Matt & Tom to finish 3rd and 4th respectively. The bikers end up in 5th.
After Alana & Mel decide to drag their princess to the Square, they head off to the Road Block with Alana opting to do it. Somehow, Sam & Renae stop wandering about and finish the Detour and catch up to the sisters.
 
It’s Alana vs. Renae and Renae manages to come out on top. The models head to the Pit Stop in 6th, leaving sister Alana & Mel last and eliminated.
Episode Thoughts
Save for the ending, it was an interesting, yet simple episode. I have to say, I am both annoyed and amused at the random, out of the way route markers on TARAu. First, that one hour stay in Ho Chi Minh before training it to Hue, then the four hour drive to and from a cluebox miles away from Port Elizabeth, and now their one hour stay in Amsterdam.
Again, I like that TARAu’s legs actually last more than an hour or two in real time, but I’m sure they could’ve saved some money from avoiding the out of the way route markers while still keep the leg full.
This leg borrowed from the 7th leg of TARA2, with TARAu using the TARA Road Block as one side of the Detour and using one side of the TARA Detour as this leg’s Road Block. It is also cute that TARAu kept the route marker at the “holey” statue which also tripped up the TARA2 teams.
It was probably the simplest leg of the season with their fates resting on the teams’ own decisions about Detour choice and navigational skills.
I also find it very interesting that TARAu has no set time limit each episode. Sometimes more than an hour, other times just under 50 minutes. It definitely breaks the tired and predictable format of TARUS where you know what’s coming up thanks to the specific time in the episode.
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