Introduction → Meet the Teams → Race Tracker → Leg 1 → Leg 2 → Leg 3 → Leg 4 → Leg 5 → Leg 6 → Leg 7 → Leg 8 → Leg 9 → Leg 10 → Leg 11 →
Leg 24.07 – “Magkakatok for Tteok”
During the Pit Stop, teams will be driven back to Alice Springs where they will board The Ghan! Teams will get to experience this legendary train journey through Australia’s outback to start this 7th Leg of the Race!
Teams will hop off the train at the stop at Katherine, Northern Territory.
Teams will partake in two activities depending on the golf scores in the previous Leg. The top four teams will take a helicopter ride deep into Nitmiluk National Park and enjoy the view of the Nitmiluk Gorge. While on the flight, their guides will relate the story of Bula, an important figure in Jawoyn Dreaming stories.
The other six teams will make their way down the Katherine River on a cruise through the Nitmiluk Gorge. During the cruise, teams will learn about the Traditional Owners of this land and the significance of Nitmiluk to the Indigenous Jayown people.
Teams will have to pay close attention to what they are learning during their travels through the gorge as they will be quizzed back on The Ghan on the way to Darwin. The results of the Quiz will determine their release time in Darwin.
In Darwin, teams will be released from Bicentennial Park where they will open the next clue revealing they will be flying to Seoul, South Korea! Teams must secure their own plane tickets to Seoul.
But first! Teams must cast their votes at the Must Vote U-Turn Board!
Teams will be flying on the same Qantas flight from Darwin to Sydney. Then they will end up on one of three flights from Sydney to Seoul Incheon: Korean Air arriving at 5:45PM, Asiana arriving at 7:05pm and Qantas arriving at 8:25pm.
Upon arrival at Incheon, teams must figure out how to make their way to Bukchon Hanok Village in Seoul via subway. They must search the area for the next clue.
At this point, teams will receive a photo of a traditional Korean home on their Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5 and they must search the area for it. They will knock on the door to receive the next clue.
That clue directs teams to take a high speed train to the coastal city of Geosan. Teams could catch a train departing 9pm, arriving at 11:45pm. The rest of the teams will end up on the 6:43am train, arriving in Geosan at 9:08am.
Once in Geosan, teams must find the General Store for the next clue which will reveal the Detour: Wet or Dry. Before choosing a Detour, teams will check-in at the U-Turn Reveal Board. The General Store also opens at 8am.
Fishing is a major source of income and part of the town’s livelihood.
In Wet, teams will pick up fresh catch of the day from boats in the dock and then deliver them to local vendors in the nearby market to receive the next clue.
In Dry, teams must learn how to properly prepare fish to be dried on the line. When they have successfully hung enough fish, they will receive the next clue.
That clue will reveal the Road Block: Sino magka-katok for tteok? For this Road Block, teams must receive phone orders for Tteok or Rice Cake blocks, in Korean, and then deliver them to locations in the area. They can exchange the delivery receipts for the next clue.
Teams must now search the neighborhood for Badasupi corner store. Each team member must buy an ice cream and search for the next clue. Teams must figure out it is on the wrapper.
The wrapper clue directs teams to make their way on foot to Geosan-gun Sports Complex.
Here, teams will immerse themselves in traditional Korean wrestling known as ssireum. First, teams must prepare the sand in the ring.
They will then learn how to tie a satba on each other before then learning a series of ssireum moves.
They must properly perform the routine in order to receive the next clue.
This is the Trigger Point for this Leg. If four or more teams are able to get the thumbs up on their first performance attempts, the U-Turn or Yield will be activated on the next Leg.
After getting their ssireum moves down, teams can make their way on foot to Ran’s Coffe, From the balcony dining area, teams must look out across the village to find the Pit Stop.
And the Pit Stop will be located on the beach nearby!
The first team to check-in here will win P200,000 courtesy of Shell V-Power Nitro+.
The last team to check-in WILL be eliminated. If the last place team from the CashKarera Leg has not checked-in first, they will ALSO be eliminated!
“Director’s” Commentary
A very interesting Leg! And really it’s all because of the logistics of it and our insistence of featuring the wonderful Ghan. Hehe
The Ghan seems like such a stunning, once in a lifetime experience. It’s hard to incorporate it on a Race because it’s not like you can control how long the train can stop for you and things like that. That’s why it was hard to incorporate it here.
Using the results of the golfing from last Leg, we will have teams experience the stunning Nitmiluk National Park, a typical stop on The Ghan. Of course, we could have one full Leg in and around here and Katherine, Northern Territory. But we already had two Legs in Australia.
The Ghan of course gets our teams back to a city where we can more easily fly to Seoul as well. So it’s all part of this balance you need to make when designing a Leg.
Now, I needed to figure out an advantage or consequence for doing well with the quiz itself. Why do it if there is no consequence on the Race. I thought potentially having a regular U-Turn at the Darwin release Route Marker. So the early teams have an advantage of U-Turning someone else.
Getting the first flight to Korea would be another advantage of course. But then I originally had teams equalized on morning train to Geosan. So that would’ve negated the entire first half of this Leg! Which I definitely did not want to have.
So since anything can happen on TARPHDME lolol We can have some teams make the late train that evening and get a few hours headstart over the other teams in the morning.
We could also further give teams the chance to catch a late evening train if we just removed the Samsung Galaxy task altogether as well. But I did like having teams running around in the dark in this traditional neighborhood.
So Geosan is actually not a real place. It’s actually the setting for the drama Like Flowers in the Sand about a small town and its ssireum team. I’ve always wanted to do ssireum on TAR. So this is a perfect opportunity! Hehe.
All the locations for the rest of the Leg are from the drama. But obviously, they are “real” places. I believe the drama was filmed in Pohang?
Anyway, we start with the cluebox at the general store. Teams will be walking all day. So that will be a great challenge. And having to search for local landmarks is good.
The Detour is the first task here. And it is a good pair of tasks fitting for a nice small, seaside town. Familiar tasks, but touching upon two everyday tasks for the local people here.
The tteok Road Block should be a nice task that involves language and communication. Teams will need to take the order and then have to search around the area for the addresses. Teams will have to interact with a lot of people and TARPHDME likes to have as much interaction with locals as possible. It can bring about some nice moments.
I added the Route Marker at the corner store just to have teams running around the town more.
And finally, the highlight of the Leg, teams experiencing ssireum. I could’ve made this a Double Road Block. That might also push teams to use their Interchange. But I wanted both team members to experience everything. Preparing the sand pit and learning how to tie a satba are two things any ssireum athlete would need to know how to do. And then having teams learn ssireum moves and performing them should be fun.
I originally had the Pit Stop at “Ran’s Coffe”, which is a location from the drama. But since the Leg should end just at sunset, a Mat on the beach would be wonderful.
Overall, a very interesting Leg. But I think it is a nice small town, down to earth Leg. South Korea and Japan are definitely TARPHDME favorites! hehehe