The Amazing Race Australia – Episode Eleven
The Leg
It is the penultimate leg of the The Amazing Race and the final four must now make their way to Colombo, Sri Lanka.
  
The teams head to the airport. Matt & Tom and Jeff & Luke stick together and find out there’s a flight that’ll get them into Colombo at midnight, but their connection in Rome would be tight. They don’t want to risk it, so they settle on a flight through Amman, Jordan that will get them into Colombo at about 5am.
Tyler & Nathan and Sam &Renae, however, decide to take the risk and it pays off. While Matt & Tom and Jeff & Luke are lounging by the pool in Jordan for their six hour layover, the surfers and the models arrive in Colombo.
  
They head to the Gangaramaya Temple where they’ll receive a blessing and their next clue. They open it up to reveal the Detour.
In this Detour, teams head to St. John’s Fish Market in Pettah.
In Count, teams must count the fish in a crate in the middle of the fish market to receive their next clue.
In Carry, teams must use a wooden trolley to deliver 15 unbroken blocks of ice to a marked stall to receive their next clue.
Both Tyler & Nathan and Sam & Renae choose Carry and as they complete the Detour, Jeff & Luke and Matt & Tom arrive in Colombo and their hearts sink knowing they’re in last.
  
Teams must now purchase third class tickets to the city of Galle and head to the historic Galle Fort for their next clue. Tyler & Nathan and Sam & Renae go to the station to wait for the train and hope the two trailing teams don’t make it.
Matt & Tom catch up and they board the train. Jeff & Luke’s tuk-tuk stops for gas though, then they end up at the booth selling 2nd class tickets, which they end up buying anyway. All four teams make the train.
Once in Galle, Jeff & Luke have to wait out a 10 minute penalty at the station for buying the wrong tickets. The other three teams head off.
  
They get the clue at the lighthouse. Teams will have to answer the question “In which year did Sri Lanka achieve independence from Britain?”and use those four numbers to unlock a treasure chest on the beach. Inside will be another question, “In what year was the father od the modern Sri Lankan nation D.S. Senanayake born?” the answer to which will give them the combination to unlock a 2nd chest with the next clue.
The clue tells teams to take a bus to the town of Ambalangoda where they will find a mask stall vendor. They’ll memorize a photo of a mask and then search amongst a hundred street performers for the match to receive their next clue.
Sam & Renae and Nathan & Tyler stay in front and finish the task to receive the clue for the Road Block.
In this Road Block, teams will head to Trendy Connections garment factory and must sew a shirt using a provided pattern. When they’ve sewn to the satisfaction of the factory head, they’ll get their next clue.
  
Sam & Renae and Nathan & Tyler look for taxi and end up going in an unregistered charter van or something.
All four teams end up at the factory at the same time and it’s all about the details. But while the guys struggle, Renae quickly finishes the Road Block. Teams must now head to the Pit Stop at Independence Square in Colombo.
Sam & Renae head to Grant, but he tells them they have to wait out a 20 minute penalty for taking a private vehicle. Tyler & Nathan arrive in 2nd, er 1st… or they arrive and also have to wait out the 20 minute penalty.
Back at the Road Block, Jeff and Matt continue to struggle until they finally break through. Jeff finishes first and Matt *appears* to be right behind. They head outside to find tuk-tuks.
  
All this time allows Sam & Renae to officially check-in first, winning a $5000 home entertainment system from Bing Lee, making their non-elim penalty null and void and making them the first team into the final leg. A little later, Tyler & Nathan check-in and they are officially in the final.
And the last team into the finale, Jeff & Luke checking in 3rd. That leaves Matt & Tom in last and eliminated.
 
Episode Thoughts
It was two TARA4 Sri Lankan legs in one. It was an interesting leg design and definitely too complicated for TARUS. These days, you won’t see TARUS have any of that flight drama, train and bus rides all in one leg which is actually a shame since after not having stuff like it for a long time, you miss it.
Again with the hours long train and bus rides that really aren’t that necessary, but hilariously welcome.
But in this leg on TARAu, it made for some interesting editing opportunities, especially with just four teams left.
The tasks themselves weren’t particularly interesting though. The Detour was dull the first time around on TARA, but that Detour had twice as many teams causing 2x the drama and 2x the f-bombs. The Road Block was okay though and certainly related to the location, but its placement right before the Pit Stop made it the deciding factor in the leg.
Not one of the stronger episodes of the season, but it actually would’ve made a nice first hour of a two hour finale.
Anyway, next week is the final and no matter who will win, I’d have to say TARAu would have completed a successful first season.
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PIT STOP
Aish HaTorah World Centre
Jerusalem, Israel
CONNECTING CITIES
Rome, Italy
Amman, Jordan
ROUTE MARKER
Gangaramaya Temple
Colombo, Sri Lanka
DETOUR
St. John’s Fish Market
Pettah, Colombo
ROUTE MARKER
Galle Fort
Galle, Sri Lanka
Ambalangoda Train Station
Ambalangoda, Sri Lanka
ROAD BLOCK
Trendy Connection
Colombo, Sri Lanka
PIT STOP
Independence Square
Colombo, Sri Lanka
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Aish HaTorah World Centre
Jerusalem, Israel
Matt & Tom 1:14am
Jeff & Luke 1:32am
Tyler & Nathan 1:46am
Sam & Renae 1:52am
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COUNT
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CARRY
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< or > indicate teams switched Detours.
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Who did the Road Block?
Who Can Reap What They Sew?
In order of completion; Italics indicate who did the Road Block
5 Sam Renae 6
6 Tyler Nathan 5
6 Jeff Luke 5
5 Matt Tom 6
6 Dave  Kelly 3
3 Anastasia  Chris 5
2 Alana  Mel 4
2 Mo  Mos 3
1 Joey  Richard 2
1 Tracy  Anne-Marie 2
2 Ryot  Liberty 0
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PIT STOP
Independence Square
Colombo, Sri Lanka
1st Sam & Renae (+3)
2nd Tyler & Nathan (+1)
3rd Jeff & Luke (-1)
4th Matt & Tom (-3)
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