Recap: The Amazing Race Austalia 7 (Celebrity Edition), Episode 8 – “I don’t know which basils are religious and which ones aren’t.”

The 8th Leg of the Race begins with teams at the edge of Tonle Sap. They must purchase school supplies at a land-based bookshop and then travel by boat to deliver them to Chong Kneas Floating School.

The teams are in awe of the floating village as they speed through on the boat. Once they deliver the supplies and some extra toys they purchased, teams must then learn a familiar song in Khmer from the children and then perform it to receive the next clue.

Teams are pleasantly surprised to find out the song is “Old MacDonald Had a Farm.” But it isn’t as easy to learn in Khmer. Jana and Cor almost immediately grow frustrated with each other.

But the Wiggles sisters Emma & Hayley of course easily get the thumbs up from the children. Alli & Angie are next, followed by Darren & Tristan. Jana & Cor and Harry & Teddy each split up the song between them to get through it.

After the song, teams encounter the Detour:Fish or Farm. In Fish, teams must use a traditional method to catch a cup’s worth of shrimp. In Farm, teams must properly plant and label a new crop in a local vegetable and fruit garden.

Emma & Hayley, Alli & Angie and Darren & Tristan choose the shrimp. Jana & Cor and Harry & Teddy choose the farm.

Darren & Tristan end up sinking while trying to pull up the shrimp traps and have to get locals to come help them. Jana & Cor begin to argue again.

Emma & Hayley maintain their lead with Alli & Angie close behind. They exchange their cup of shrimp for the Road Block clue: Who wants to go against the grain? For this Road Block, teams head back to shore to a rice farm where they must pound and then toss rice grain to separate the kernels from the husks. When they have a cup, they’ll get the next clue.

Darren & Tristan are shocked that the girls smoked them on the Detour. Jana & Cor and Harry & Teddy have a bit of trouble identifying their plants. The mum and son begin to get upset with each other, but hug it out and they refocus. That allows them to finish before Harry & Teddy.

Meanwhile, Emma and Alli get started with dehusking the rice. Emma exchanges her rice up for the next clue just as Darren starts with the task. Cor and Harry arrive just as Alli finishes her cup of rice.

After the rice, teams can make their way through the rice paddies to the Pit Stop. Emma & Hayley step on the Mat to claim the win. Alli & Angie finish 2nd.

Back at the rice, Harry & Teddy come to Cor’s defense when Jana starts snapping at him again to try and encourage him. The 16 year old Cor is able to finish his rice next before the two adult men. He and Jana get to the Mat as Team #3.

Harry gets his rice cup approved next with Darren right behind. It is a footrace to the Mat. And Darren & Tristan manage to step on just seconds before Harry & Teddy. But this is a Non-Elimination Leg and Harry & Teddy are still in the Race.

Episode Thoughts

A great episode and solid Leg on the always wonderful Tonle Sap. It was a bit of a linear Leg. Which I think is inevitable on any Tonle Sap Leg. But it was great again getting these celeb teams doing these challenging tasks.

First up, it’s always fun having teams interact with children. And learning something from the kiddos is a staple TAR task. So perfect here on this Leg. Especially after delivering some nice school supplies and toys for the kids.

The Detour was a good pair of tasks. I think both were also familiar Tonle Sap tasks from previous TAR Legs.

And the Road Block was a perfect physical task to end the Leg with right before the Pit Stop. I think it was pretty obvious that this was a Non-Elimination Leg. But nonetheless, it was really awesome to see the teams still work hard on this Leg.

I am just so impressed by all these teams for giving it their all. And I think, they’re getting more and more serious as the Race heads to the Finish Line. I’d think teams would be ready to tap out. And considering these are celebs, the fact that we’ve only had one quit so far is again quite amazing. If this were a regular season, we’d have 10 already!

Team Thoughts

All the teams were great this Leg. Again, love seeing Alli & Angie and Emma & Hayley doing so well. I am really rooting for them. Either would be great first all-female team to win TARAu.

Jana & Cor are interesting. Their bickering parent-child dynamic isn’t something we see often on the Race. At least not to the extent that they’ve clashed. And it’s quite refreshing, actually. I think it is a normal parent-child relationship. You can tell they love each other very much. And after any argument, they’ll go back to being fine. As an outsider, it might look bad. But they probably have the most interesting potential story for a win. A mother watching her son grow up on the Race. A mum and son growing to understand each other more. We’ll see!

It was also refreshing to see Darren & Tristan struggling this Leg! Funny how they are much more tolerable and fun to watch when they’re actually having to exert the effort in the Race. Hehe. They can definitely still return to the top though.

Even more refreshing are Harry & Teddy. I think in a similar way, we see their real selves from time to time. The other moments may be them playing to the camera and maintaining their dating show characters, or whatever. But it’s really nice to see moments like them at the Mat where you can feel their sincerity very much.

And for all the teams, it is really wonderful seeing them appreciate the destinations they have visited. A far cry from the bad first impressions in the first episode.

Episode Quotes

Harry: “I never want to fight. I love you bro.”

Teddy: “I’m about to go full nan mode.”

Angie: “You need to calm your titties.”
Alli: “You need to calm your titties too.”

Teddy: “I don’t know which basils are religious and which ones aren’t.”