This Is Gonna Be
a Fine Mess
October 16
PREVIOUSLY ON THE AMAZING RACE:
Nine teams Raced around Indonesia. Biking at a leisurely pace, planting
rice seedlings, delivering goats and grass and counting Buddha statues,
the Americans went through many a trial to finish on the grounds
of a HUGE 9th Century Buddhist temple. In the end, Laurence &
Zac (Team Drake Wannabes) hit the mat first...but, due to a screw-up
during the DETOUR, they had to surrender the top spot to Andy &
Tommy (Team Snow Shredders). But Kaylani & Lisa (Team Showgirls)
were sent back to Vegas for arriving last. Eight teams remain in
their pursuit of a million bucks...which one will be Philiminated
NEXT?!
PIT STOP
#3
GROUNDS
OF BOROBUDUR TEMPLE
OUTSIDE OF MAGELANG, INDONESIA
0817 LOCAL TIME
The two friends/Olympic snowboarders/two-time
Leg winners open the first clue of Leg 4 with the early morning
sun shining down on the 69 Buddha statues they counted yesterday.
The clue reads as such:
ROUTE
INFO |
FLY TO PHUKET,
THAILAND!
Fly northwest over 1100 miles
to the tropical destination of the island of Phuket in Thailand.
Once you land, travel by taxi to the Nonthasak Marina and
run out on the floating dock where your next clue will be
found attached to a barrel.
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Though Andy & Tommy
are happy with the Team #1 status, they felt it wasn't "clean"
thanks to Team Drake Wannabes helping them out and then getting
penalized . The other teams' deaprture times (local time):
Laurence & Zac: 0828
Jeremy & Sandy (Team Get-To-Know): 0940
Justin & Jennifer (Team Georgia Sibs): 0941
Ernie & Cindy (Team Contradiction): 0942
Amani & Marcus (Team Hut-Hut!): 0946
Bill & Cathi (Team Sexagenarians): 0956
Liz & Marie (Team Twin Grads): 1005
ADISUTJIPTO
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
YOGAYAKARTA, INDONESIA
Team Snow Shredders arrive
at the airport and ask for flights to Phuket. The woman at the ticket
counter tells them they can take a flight while connecting through
Jakarta, which leaves at 9:40am. They decide to fly to Jakarta and
then find a direct flight to Phuket. Team Drake Wannabes decide
the same way after Andy & Tommy clue them in. The two front
teams are the only one taking off to the Indonesian capital.
The other six teams, being
separated by only 25 minutes from third to last, pretty much arrive
at the airport at the same time. They all get the bad news, though:
the next flight to Jakarta to which they can get a flight to Phuket
leaves at 12:45pm from Air Asia. They all decide to take a connecting
flight on the same airline to Phuket, arriving at 6:50pm.
JAKARTA,
INDONESIA
Back
at the populous city in northern Indonesia, Team Snow Shredders
and Team Drake Wannabes arrive and start looking for flights to
Phuket. But direct flights are booked solid. The only way they can
travel is with a stopover in Bangkok,
the capital of Thailand...which arrives in Phuket at 7:40pm, 50
minutes after the other teams (problems forbidding). As Laurence
& Zac get their tickets, Andy & Tommy sneak up on them and
have a little fun with them, tickling their necks gently and trying
to get them to notice them.
One
way or another, the 16 American Racers are on their way to...
PHUKET,
THAILAND
The flight from Jakarta
touches down on time as night has descended on the island. The six
teams all hop into cabs and head for the marina. Another "Cannonball
Run" sequence commences, with teams pleading to their cabbies
to pass other teams. Ernie & Sandy's cabbie missed the memo,
though; they get passed by Justin & Jennifer AND by Bill &
Cathi. In fact, Team Sexagenarians' cab speeds past other cabs as
well.
50 minutes later, the
second flight lands and Team Snow Shredders and Team Drake Wannabes
get cabs of their own. They hear from a bystander that four taxis
have already split for the marina an hour ago (she must've missed
the other two). So the three young men and one older man feel they
are in at WORST fifth and sixth (not knowing their ACTUALLY tied
for last). They get their cabs and head on out to...
NONTHASAK
MARINA
PHUKET, THAILAND
Jeremy & Sandy are the first to
arrive at the marina...and they get sobering news: the marina is
closed until 8am! Well,...so much for the 50-minute lead. EVERYOBDY
eventually shows up, gets the news...and chills until the morning
comes.
As it must, the sun rises...and, about
an hour or so later, the marina opens, sending the sixteen Racers
scrambling to the beach and a LONG floating dock. It's a rather
hectic race across the constantly swaying bridge. Andy & Tommy,
being the youngest and most agile team, grabs the clue first and
runs back to shore to read it. When they get back, they find it's
a...
DETOUR |
CORAL RECONSTRUCTION
or BEACH PREPARATION?
The 2004 tsunami that struck
Southeast Asia was devastating to Phuket. They have since
rebuilt and are trying to bring back more tourists. You will
choose one of two tasks to help with this industry.
CORAL RECONSTRUCTION: Board
a speedboat which will take you to a beach. There, construct
a "coral nursery" out of pipe fittings and bring
it to a nearby kayak that has a tray of live coral on it.
With a marine biologist tagging along, you must paddle out
to a marked buoy, sink the nursery and strategicly place the
live coral pieces on it. Once the biologist approves of the
setting, he'll give you your next clue.
BEACH PREPARATION: Board
a speedboat which will take you to a beach club. Go to the
cabana and search for 20 beach chairs and 10 beach umbrellas
that have the same sticker as shown in this clue. You must
then set up the chairs and umbrellas to the exacting standards
of the beach club. When the club manager is satisfied with
the set-up, he will hand over your next clue..
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CORAL RECONSTRUCTION:
Team Snow Shredders (1st), Team Hut-Hut! (2nd), Team Georgia Sibs
(3rd), Team Get-To-Know (4th), Team Drake Wannabes (6th) and Team
Sexagenarians (Last)
BEACH PREPARATION: Team Contradiction (5th) and Team Twin Grads
(7th)
The teams enjoy the beautiful
scenery as they speed along. Justin stands at the bow of the ship...while
Jennifer yells, "You're the king of the world!" (And you
wonder why they don't get along?!) And another "Cannonball
Run" montage hits, with certain boats passing others with the
teams screaming to the captains to move their dingies! Fair bit
of trash talking between boats happens as well...but it's all in
fun, I'm sure.
Turns out that both tasks
originate from the SAME ISLET, just on opposite SIDES. So...THIS
should be interesting. Andy & Tommy beach first and race to
their coral nursery "kit". As they build their nursery,
the other teams start to storm the beach and head to their respective
tasks. Liz & Marie show up second and get to taking out the
"yellow fish stickered" chairs and umbrellas. Laurence
& Zac, however, miss the sign pointing them to the nurseries
and end up at the beach club. Ah, well, might as well do BEACH PREP
while they're here, right?
With five teams putting
nurseries together, the stress is a BIT high. Teams are arguing
with each other and looking ten times a minute at the other teams.
And, of course, Justin & Jennifer are on each others' Kool-Aid
like nobody's business. With three teams pulling chairs and umbrellas,
there is equal stress at the other task, coupled with the inability
of finding the right stickers quickly and the usual hassling between
partners.
It's Team Drake Wannabes
that start on their beach first, despite not having all the chairs
and umbrellas yet. They look at the "control" set-up and
get to work unfolding chairs and unfurling umbrellas. And, obviously,
Team Snow Shredders finish their nursery first and load up their
kayak. Team Georgia Sibs, DESPITE their bickering, finish THEIR
nursery next, with Amani & Marcus close behind...that is, until
Team Hut-Hut!'s nursery breaks apart. The other nursery-makers are
still working on it.
Andy & Tommy row out
to the buoy and dive in. The current around the island is KINDA
strong, so the two friends have to put coral-laden rocks on the
nursery to keep it from falling over. As the two African-American
male-female teams start to paddle out, Team Snow Shredders plant
the coral on the top of the nursery. the nearby biologist gives
them the thumbs up and their clue...which looks like a compass and
a medallion. More on that later. Justin dives into the relatively
shallow water and puts the nursery in place while Jennifer stays
dry in the kayak. Same holds for Amani & Marcus...though Marcus
isn't great at holding his breath and swimming underwater.
As the last two teams
head out to sea with their nurseries, Andy & Tommy take a GOOD
look at the compass and medallion. Essentially, were it in standard
clue form, it says this:
ROUTE
INFO |
TIME TO SOAP
UP!
Use this compass to guide
your speedboat captain on a 13-minute ride north to Soap Island,
the island on the medallion. Once their, spot a sanpan in
a covered cove where your next clue awaits.
|
Team Snow Shredders depart
in the lead (again) and laugh at the other CORAL RECONSTRUCTIONers,
thinking how they're gonna fight the currents.
On the other side, Liz
& Marie struggle to get their stuff out and unfolded (to the
amusement of the locals). Cindy puts the chair in as straight a
line as she can hack while Ernie brings more chairs and umbrellas.
Laurence & Zac find their last umbrella and make sure the chairs
are perfect...even to which "rung" the backs are propped
up to. It's still a rather hectic race in this case.
Back at the nurseries,
Justin argues at Jennifer for drifting away and Jennifer just wants
Justin to "grab the boat" to keep it steady. Ah, aren't
siblings wonderful to have? Finally, Jennifer dives in to help.
Fortunately, their nursery got stuck on a rock so the current doesn't
tip it over. As such, they leave the DETOUR in second, though they're
clueless about their clue. Sandy was FREAKING at the waves as their
nursery loses a piece, forcing Jeremy to put it back together on
the sea floor. Bill & Cathi have SERIOUS problems with THEIR
nursery falling apart at the seems...and, though still healthy,
they ARE in their 60s so they can't keep with the current. So...they
U-TURN themselves and row back to do BEACH PREPARATION. Amani &
Marcus come to the same conclusion and row back (after the kayak
capsizes, that is, and Marcus catches his breath for a few mintues)...as
does Team Get-To-Know.
So now it's SIX teams
putting the chairs and umbrellas up. Team Sexagenarians start in,
Jeremy orders Sandy around, Team Contradiction fights the winds
and chase down their umbrellas, Team Drake Wannabes SHOVE the umbrellas
in deep to that effect, Team Twin Grads have trouble even OPENING
them (and they keep falling on them)...and Team Hut-Hut! finally
arrive with a VERY winded Marcus.
SOAP
ISLAND
OFF OF PHUKET, THAILAND
The clue with the medallion
itself is that the two holes in the middle match up to the two LARGE
crags of the island. And that's where Andy & Tommy charge towards.
They find their clue hanging from a rope near the sanpan and rip
it open to find a...
ROADBLOCK |
WHO WANTS TO
BE THE KING OF THE HILL?
Beautiful limestone rock
formation, isn't it? Well, one team member will have to CLIMB
something like it! Have the captain take you to Koh Yao Noi
Island. One of you will then strap into rock-climbing gear
and, attached to a safety rope, will climb the sheer rock
face with only your hands and feet. You must climb to the
giant bird's nest on the rock face; your next clue is in said
nest. You must not open the clue until you repel down and
rejoin your partner.
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Andy will be the "king
of the hill" for this team. As they speed away to their task,
Team Georgia Sibs arrives at the crags, get the clue and elect Jennifer
to be a "QUEEN of the hill", as it were.
Back on the beach, Ernie
& Cindy have a great idea: pour water INTO the umbrella holes
to make the sand more dense and keep them from tipping over. Team
Drake Wannabe continue with their forceful plunging and are nearing
completion. Marcus is constantly shouting "GO CRAZY!"...which
is a catchphrase-catching habit he picked up for Amani is cool with
it. Bill & Cathi would slowly but steadily, Liz & Marie
still struggle but make good progress (with some help from Sandy)...and
Team Get-To-Know seems to have put the chair pairs too close to
each other and have to re-work.
KOH
YAO NOI ISLAND
OFF OF PHUKET, THAILAND
At the "small, long
island" (that's the literal translation), Team Snow Shredders'
boat arrives. Andy hops off, puts on his gear...and then proceeds
to go all "Spider-Man" on the sheer cliff face! I mean,
seriously, he scrambles up the wall so fast, you'd think he was
doing THAT instead of snowboarding all his life. He quickly gets
to the nest, grabs the clue and skids on back down. It looks very
much like a three-peat as Andy rejoins Tommy in the boat and they
rip open this clue:
ROUTE
INFO |
MAKE YOUR WAY
TO THE PIT STOP!
Tell the captain (using the
enclosed map) to take you to the floating village of Koh Panyi,
a 200-year-old village built to provide easy access to fishing.
When you disembark at the main pier, you'll find Phil at the
"floating stadium" (a soccer field), the PIT STOP
of this Leg of the Race.
WARNING! The last team to
check-in MAY BE ELIMINATED!
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As the shredders head
OUT, the siblings move IN and Jennifer preps for her climb. With
encouragement from Justin (yeah,...weird, right?), Jennifer takes
an easy and deliberate pace up the crag before finally grabbing
a clue from the nest. They are second out of the ROADBLOCK, leaving
the other six teams in the dust.
On the subject of the
latter, Ernie & Cindy ask for a judge to check their set-up.
The judge takes a good look, says "Yes" and hands the
couple their compass and medallion; they are third out of the DETOUR.
Right behind them in fourth is Laurence & Zac. They KNOW how
to work a compass so they have no trouble pointing their captain
towards Soap Island. Next to be judges is Ernie & Sandy...but
they get the thumbs-down (mostly because of the backs not being
on the right rungs). As they scramble to fix this, Amani & Marcus
gets the "Yes" and depart in fifth. As Marcus departs,
he tells team Twin Grads to "spin" the umbrellas into
the ground. Finally fixed, Team Get-To-Know departs in sixth, leaving
the twins and the old-timers behind.
PIT
STOP #4
FLOATING STADIUM
KOH PANYI, THAILAND
While the sight of a village
on stilts and floating on the sea may not be that familiar to Team
Snow Shredders, the sight of seeing Phil and the local greeter behind
a red-black-and-yellow mat is QUITE familiar and MORE than welcome.
The "clean victory" they longed for - where they come
in first NOT because of other teams' mishaps - has come true; Phil
checks them in for the third straight time as Team # 1! The reward
this time: US$5000 each! Oh, and Andy like the beard on the greeter;
looks like they use the same shaving technique.
Some time later, Team
Georgia Sibs run up to the mat and are checked-in as Team #2. It
was rough...but they got through the sibling rivalry to get this
far.
Back on the sea, Team
Contradiction seem to take a wrong turn because it's Team Drake
Wannabes who get to the ROADBLOCK clue first. Zac offers to do the
climbing. As Ernie & Cindy continue their odyssey at sea, Team
Hut-Hut! reaches the island and opts for Amani (since Marcus is
still fairly winded) to climb. And Jeremy is "volunteered"
by Sandy for THEIR climb. The dating couple who left the DETOUR
in third is like the chatacers of a "Suit Life On Deck"
episode: "Lost at Sea". FINALLY Ernie figures out that
he had the compass BACKWARDS and, as they spy the twin crags of
the island. They're sixth to get the ROADBLOCK clue; Ernie says
he'll climb.
The seventh team out of
the DETOUR...is Team Sexagenarians! While Liz & Marie struggle
with their umbrellas still, Bill & Cathi get approved and head
out to sea. Team Twin Grads try to stay upbeat: "It's the beach.
It's fun." But the fun wanes rather quickly as the two girls
argue. They are mad that they didn't pay attention to details...but
they FINALLY finish the DETOUR and head out to Soap Island.
At the crag, Laurence
is glad he's not climbing due to his vertigo. Zac seems to tackle
the task quite well. It takes some time, but he DOES grab the clue
and navigates to boat captain towards the PIT STOP. When Team Hut-Hut!
arrives, Amani's a LITTLE trepidacious. But she can't balk now;
Jeremy has just arrived and is ready to climb. Amani's about half-way
up when Jeremy starts...so she is able to grab the clue and head
down before HE'S half-way up. She and Marcus head for the PIT STOP
in fourth, and Team Get-To-Know are several minutes behind in fifth....JUST
as Ernie arrives to START his climb.
Hey, where's Team Drake
Wannabes? Well, they're where they THOUGHT the villiage should be...but
apparantly, their navigation skills are a bit off today. This might
be a break for the other teams; Team Sexagenarians has reached Soap
Island and elects Bill to do the ROADBLOCK, and Ernie finishes the
climb to depart the ROADBLOCK in sixth. As for Liz & Marie,
THEY arrive at the island and Liz says she'll climb. Bill &
Cindi finish the climb in 7th and the twins are fast approaching...so
the two sailors better BOOGIE if they want to stay in. And they
do...by spying another team's craft and telling the captain to "follow
that boat".
Back at the PIT STOP,
both Amani & Marcus and Jeremey & Sandy arrive at the village...but
it's Team Get-To-Know who find the way to the Floating Stadium first
and are checked-in as Team #3. As Laurence & Zac disembark at
the village, Team Hut-Hut! gets lost. this allows the sailors to
be Team #4. As the baller and his wife keep sweeping around the
village, Team Contradiction arrives and get checked as #5. FINALLY,
Amani & Marcus find Phil and are Team #6.
So, again, it's down to
the old-timers and the young twins. Liz finishes her ROADBLOCK while
Bill & Cathi still motor to the village. Can Team Twin Grads
- these girls with a so-called "quarter-life crisis" -
outrun those who are well-past their MID-life crisis?
Uh,........no. And
Liz & Marie feel that way, feeling like they're "riding
to their deaths" by Philimination. And as they ride, Team Sexagenarians
are checked-in as Team #7.
"Liz & Marie,"
says a saddened Phil as the girls hit the mat, "you are the
last team to arrive." They feel upset, though the scenery is
wonderful and they had a great time.
And then Phil gives them
the GOOD news: this is the second N.E.L. of the Race! They're still
in it!! The girls W00T in happiness! As Marie cries, Phil explains
the BAD news: Team Twin Grads will have a SPEED BUMP to complete
sometime during the next Leg. Liz says it best: "It's not over
til it's over...and it's not over! We're still here!" But...will
they be able to STAY "here"?
ROUTE
INFO |
AFTER LEG 4:
BOROBUDUR, INDONESIA to PHUKET, THAILAND
1) Andy & Tommy
(EVEN) - Ireland, Dubai, $10G
2) Justin & Jennifer (+2)
3) Jeremy & Sandy (EVEN)
4) Laurence & Zac (-2)
5) Ernie & Cindy (EVEN) - Express Pass
6) Amani & Marcus (EVEN)
7) Bill & Cathi (EVEN)
8) Liz & Marie (EVEN)
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To see this episode in its
entirety, or to apply to be a contestant on "The Amazing Race", visit the
official website at
www.cbs.com/amazingrace. |