Recap: The Amazing Race Australia 8 (Celebrity Edition 2), Episode 7 – “The cobras are coming.”

The 7th Leg of the Race takes teams to Namibia where they start the Leg at Walvis Bay International Airport. The first clue, including 365 Namibian dollars, directs teams to drive themselves into the Namib Desert to find Dune 7, one of the highest in the world.

The waiting clue reveals the Detour: Two by Two or Four by Four. In Two by Two, teams will head to Peter’s Pan and cross the golden dunes on foot before sandboarding down. In Four by Four, teams head to Snake Bend Pan and master a 12K four-wheel drive course over the dunes. This is a Limited Stations Detour with only three spots on each side.

The first three teams, Chloe & Emily, Brooke & Adam and Billy & Oscar, choose the 4×4. That means the other three teams Pete & Bridget, Thorpie & Christian and Bam Bam & Logan have to do walking.

Chloe & Emily almost immediately get stuck, allowing Brooke & Adam and Billy & Oscar to get ahead of them on the course while they have to dig their out. Soon after, Billy & Oscar also get bogged down.

Meanwhile, the walking teams get started. Though Thorpie is worried about being able to do it as he has bad knees. Christian tries to keep encouraging Thorpie through the difficult walk. Bam Bam & Logan take it upon themselves to cheer the other two teams on as well, including sharing their waters.

Brooke & Adam reach the end of the course and get the thumbs up. Chloe & Emily are right behind them. Over on the walk, all three teams get to the top and they quickly sandboard down. Billy & Oscar leave the Detour in last.

After the Detour, teams they will be driven by a guide to Pelican Point where they will kayak amidst a sea of seals to look for four buoys with facts about local sea life. Back onshore, the sea expert will ask them one question based on what they will see.

Turns out the question has nothing to do with any of the actual facts, but what it says on the blue border of the fact board: “Friends of the Seal”.

After failing an attempt and needing to go back to look at the border, Chloe & Emily get the correct answer and receive the next clue, a Road Block: Who wants a traditional spa treatment?

For this Road Block, teams must learn how to and successfully make otjize, a mixture of animal fat and red ochre the locals use as sunscreen and bug repellant. Teams will drive to Mondesa and join a Himba tribeswoman to mix up a fresh batch and then put some on their arms and face.

Chloe, Adam, Pete, Thorpie, Bam Bam and Billy decide to do the Road Block.

As they prepare to leave, Bam Bam finds someone has left their bumbag and taken theirs. He asks what he should do. Oscar says to bring it. Billy says to just leave it here. Logan agrees that whosever bag that is will have to come back and get it.

Both teams feel bad about leaving the bag there, but this a competition for charity.

Turns out the bumbag belongs to Chloe & Emily who realize they have left it. Emily says it doesn’t matter since they don’t need it. But Chloe says they absolutely do. They have no choice but to go back.

Over in Mondesa, Thorpie and Pete are first to arrive followed by Adam, Bam Bam and Billy. Adam is first to finish followed by Pete and Thorpie.

After the otjize, teams will go shopping at the local market for four items on a list written in the local language of Damara Nama. They will first get a language lesson from the local childrens and then collect the items to receive the next clue.

Chloe & Emily arrive in Mondesa as the other teams begin shopping.

Brooke & Adam maintain their lead and get the next clue directing them to the Pit Stop at Tumas Pan. Bam Bam & Logan are close behind. They race through a sandstorm. And it is Bam Bam & Logan who step on the Mat as Team #1. But their day is not over yet as it is a Virtual Pit Stop. Beau hands them the next clue.

Brooke & Adam officially check-in as Team #2. Pete & Bridget are 3rd and Billy & Oscar are 4th.

It’s now down to Thorpie & Christian and Chloe & Emily. And Thorpie & Christian step on the Mat as Team #5.

That means Chloe & Emily are last and Beau confirms that they are eliminated.

Episode Thoughts

An interesting Leg! Legs in deserts or very rural areas where things can be very far apart can be hit or miss. But this Leg actually seemed pretty well done. Granted, without Chloe & Emily’s mistake, this might have been a more linear, straightforward episode.

But still, all the tasks were pretty great and made the episode worthwhile.

First up, the Detour was simple. But they were great ways to feature the stunning dunes. The teams appeared to finish pretty close together. So it seemed to be pretty balanced. The time needed to dig their 4x4s out equaled the hike up the dune. So that’s good.

The kayaking with the seals was another simple, but good task to feature the unique location. And lol at the blue border trick question. Just a simple way to trip up teams and make the straightforward task trickier than it would be otherwise.

The Road Block was good. I expected a bit more involvement for the teams. But that’s alright. Seemed like there wasn’t much trouble with it. But it delivered some very fun moments with the locals.

As did the shopping task which was very fun. I think those were some of the best interactions with locals I’ve seen in a long time on any TAR. And it’s something we don’t really see a lot of anymore, even before COVID. So it was wonderful here.

I was at first a bit annoyed the show would reveal that this was a Virtual Pit Stop so early because I expected it to be a Non-Elimination again. But making it an elimination is a good decision. It keeps the teams (and us!) on our toes. And it’s great to see a TAR be very clear about what these Zero-Hour Pit Stops/Virtual Pit Stops actually mean. Rather than TARUS who confuse equivalent Virtual Pit Stops as automatically no penalty Non-Elimination Legs. Boo!

Overall, a solid episode powered by the stunning Namib Desert.

Team Thoughts

Nice to see Brooke & Adam stay out in front. I wouldn’t be surprised now to see them in the finale. Bam Bam & Logan were able to recover very well this Leg too.

Thorpie & Christian seem not too long for the Race at this point. And it’s certainly hard to have escaped the news about Ian Thorpe after this season filmed. So we’ll see how it plays out on the show.

That means Pete & Bridget and Billy & Oscar are fighting for the last finale slot, I think. And it really could be either one. They’ve got a lot of luck to make up for whatever they lack in Race skill. So it will be interesting.

Too bad about Chloe & Emily. But what a huge mistake they made. I think the Leg did not do them any favors as it could be a bit linear, preventing them from catching up. But they were eliminated because of their mistake and there’s no one else to blame. Still, they ran a strong Race. But even the strongest teams can stumble over one thing that ends up being what eliminates them.

Episode Quotes

Beau: “Ah! I knew I should have done Survivor instead of this.”

Logan: “You look like a Samoan Oompa-Loompa.”

Beau: “The cobras are coming.”