Topic: Racing report TAR22, Episode 11 part 2 is on page 2

[maf]

[Title placement holder]

[maf]

Racing report
Amazing Race Season 22, Episode 1, "Business in the front, party in the back"
Film date: Nov 13-14 2012

This race starts at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California. The teams come jogging up a path towards the observatory and are:

• Chuck & Wynona, a cross between redneck and country, married 15 years from Daphne, Alabama
• Bates & Anthony, brothers and professional hockey players from North Carolina
• Mona & Beth, roller-derby moms from Colorado
• Max & Katie, newlyweds from Buffalo, New York
• Dave & Connor, cancer survivors as well as father and son from Salt Lake City, Utah
• Jessica & John, dating from Southern California
• Idries & Jamil, twin OB/GYNs from Chicago, Illinois
• Pam & Winnie, best friends from Los Angeles, California
• Joey & Meghan, YouTube hosts from Los Angeles, California
• Matt & Daniel, best friends and firefighters from Gaffney, South Carolina
• Caroline & Jennifer, country singers from Nashville, Tennessee[/i]
  

At the starting line Phil tells the teams that the winners of the first leg will receive two express passes. One for themselves and one they must give to another team (before then end of the 4th leg).

The starting line is on the roof of the observatory and the first clue waits inside one of the sponsored cars in the parking lot. Teams get $20 for this leg of the race.

After a mad dash and some falls teams are in their cars. Here the dashboard video lights up and Phil appear "You are now heading to the tropical paradise of Bora Bora. Drive yourselves to Los Angeles international airport. There are two flights leaving for Bora Bora tonight. Warning, there's only room for five teams on Air Tahiti Nui, which lands one hour ahead of the second flight."

The first flight combination to Bora Bora was probably
 TN101 LAX-PPT 23:54-06:02+1
 VT402 PPT-BOB 09:00-09:50
This carries:
 Chuck & Wynona
 Pam & Winnie
 Idries & Jamil
 Dave & Connor
 Jessica & John

The second flight was probably:
 AF076 LAX-PPT 02:01-06:56
 VT452 PPT-BOB 10:00-10:50
This carries:
 Max & Katie
 Bates & Anthony
 Matt & Daniel
 Caroline & Jennifer
 Joey & Meghan
 Mona & Beth

Choice quotes:
 "We're not afraid of anything", Pam has confidence in herself
 "We're actually delivery men", Jamil has a creative way of describing what he does for a living
 "I our everyday life we don't have any friends. And I don't care", Katie
 "I think you have to play the social game in order to win the race", Max realizes they at least have to pretend to be friendly

While on their layover in Papeete Idries & Jamil propose a pact with the other teams on the first flight. The idea is that if any of them win the express passes they should automatically give the second express pass to the second team in the pact to reach the pit stop. This should eliminate any hurt feelings and other drama. All teams agree to this, and also promise to keep this pact secret.

When teams finally land on Bora Bora there is a mad dash to the next clue box which stands on the beach close to the airport. Teams reach this in the following order:
  1. Pam & Winnie
  2. Idries & Jamil
  3. Jessica & John
  4. Dave & Connor
  5. Chuck & Wynona
And about an hour later
  6. Bates & Anthony
  7. Caroline & Jennifer
  8. Mona & Beth
  9. Max & Katie
 10. Matt & Daniel
 11. Joey & Meghan

ROAD BLOCK

Who's ready to take a
giant leap towards a
million bucks?

Contestants must first sign up on one of 6 helicopter flights. They must then perform a tandem skydive from 10.000 feet over Bora Bora. Their partner gets to take a water-taxi to the landing zone.

Teams end up on the following flights:
Flight 1:
 1(+2) John
 2(+0) Jamil

Flight 2:
 3(+1) Connor
 4(-3) Winnie

Flight 3:
 5(+0) Chuck

Flight 4:
 6(+1) Caroline
 7(-1) Anthony

Flight 5:
 8(+2) Matt
 9(+0) Max

Flight 6:
 10(-2) Mona, arrived before Max but wrote her name on the wrong line
 11(+0) Meghan

The view from the air is stunning. We have the deep blue ocean, some cloud puffs and the emerald green islands with their pristine beaches. As for the contestants, nobody have any real problems letting go of the helicopter.

Choice quotes:
 "I have to do the height stuff and the eating stuff, so I got the crap end of the deal", Winnie
 "I love you mom", Connor, as he jumps out of the helicopter
 "Awesomest feeling I've ever had", Chuck enjoyed the jump

Teams complete this roadblock in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1(+0)	Jessica & John*	(0-1)
2(+0)	Idries & Jamil*	(0-1)
?	Dave & Connor*	(0-1)
?	Pam & Winnie*	(0-1)
?	Chuck* & Wynona	(1-0)
?	Bates & Anthony*	(0-1)
?	Caroline* & Jennifer	(1-0)
?	Matt* & Daniel	(1-0)
?	Max* & Katie	(1-0)
?	Mona* & Beth	(1-0)
?	Joey & Meghan*	(0-1)

         

As they land they are given their next clue:

ROUTE INFO

Travel by water taxi to
Eden Beach on Motu Piti
A'au. Once there, follow
the marked path along
the shore until you find
your next clue.

Note: Place your
passport, jewelry, and
the contents of your
pockets into your
personal bags. Hook
your Race bag on your
personal bag and leave it
on your water taxi

At Eden beach teams easily find their next clue in a plastic bucket on a big sandcastle. That is all teams except Chuck & Wynona who miss this and instead start searching a nearby shed. All in plain view of, and to the amusement of, the teams doing the roadblock. Eventually Chuck spots the real clues and they can join the others.

Teams arrive in the following order:
  1(+0) Jessica & John
  2(+0) Idries & Jamil
  3(+0) Dave & Connor
  4(+0) Pam & Winnie
  5(+0) Chuck & Wynona
  6(+1) Bates & Anthony
  7(-1) Caroline & Jennifer
  8(+0) Matt & Daniel
  9(+0) Max & Katie
 10(+1) Joey & Meghan
 11(-1) Mona & Beth

ROAD BLOCK

Who wants to play in the
sand?

If you did the previous
Road Block, your
partner MUST do this
one.

The extra information reads:

Search beneath
hundreds of sand castles
for your next clue.

Note: You MUST rebuild
and replace any sand
castle you have
destroyed before moving
on to another.

There are 400 sand castles to search. The catch is that it is very hot in the scorching sun, and the rebuilding is time-consuming. Another catch is that the clue is actually buried beneath the sand castle so they have to dig a bit down as well, not all teams notice this when they read their clue.

This task is grueling. It is really hot and for some contestants it takes up to 5 minutes to search and rebuild one sand castle.

I am not sure if the local guy who walks around playing an ukulele helps or just adds to the gruesomeness of the task. The dog peeing on one of the sand castles does not help though.

Choice quotes:
 "It was like opening a Christmas present which was empty, and then having to wrap it back up again", Jessica
 "I need wetter sand. Rebuilding these sons of a bitches is hard", Pam
 "It's hotter than Hades out here", Jamil
 "Where are my kids when I need them?", Wynona
 "I haven't lost my touch to", Bates makes his first sand castle

 "How many times have we watched the show and you said you wanted to go to that nice beautiful beach", Chuck to his wife
 "I didn't want to go there and build sand castles. I thought they'd have a lounge chair and a vodka and 7upsen for me", Wynona had unrealistic expectations

 "Mentally he's kind of fragile", Jamil thinks his brother is about to snap

 "I love playing in the sand", Joey arrive at the sand castles
 "Yea, you think you love playing in the sane. Give it three hours...", Idries know how fun it is

 "This is where being a mom comes in handy", Beth has experience building sand castles

As teams find clues and leave the remaining teams have a harder time to find the fewer remaining clues.

After having spent more than 3 hours digging in the sand under the scorching sand the three remaining teams have had enough. They all agree to quit the task and take the 4h penalty.

 "I know Matt and I can win this canoe race. I mean we canoe all the time", Daniel is confident

Teams complete this roadblock in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1(+0)	Jessica* & John	(1-1)
2(+4)	Bates* & Anthony	(1-1)
3(+0)	Dave* & Connor	(1-1)
4(+7)	Mona & Beth*	(1-1)
5(-1)	Pam* & Winnie	(1-1)
6(+4)	Joey* & Meghan	(1-1)
7(-5)	Idries* & Jamil	(1-1)
8(-3)	Chuck & Wynona*	(1-1)
DNF	Max & Katie*	(1-1)
DNF	Matt & Daniel*	(1-1)
DNF	Caroline & Jennifer*	(1-1)

         

ROUTE INFO

Make your way down the
beach and assemble a
Va'a. Then, paddle down
the shoreline until you
see Phil and your first Pit
Stop - the Motu Cafe.

Warning!! The last
Team to check-in may
be eliminated.

Team must now run 50 yards down the beach and attach the outrigger to an outrigger canoe. Once their canoe is ship-shape they must paddle it over a mile to the pit stop. A local will join then in the canoe and handle the steering.

Assembling the canoe is fairly easy, just latch the parts together, there is basically just one way to do it.

The hard part is handling the canoe the water. The float is on the left side, but the canoe will easily tip over if you lean just a little to the right.

The trip across the lagoon looks awesome. This place really looks like a tropical paradise.

 "We're from the inner city of Chicago, we don't swim", Jamil doesn't feel comfortable about the canoe

Idries & Jamil not only tip over with their canoe. One of their fastenings comes undone, so they have to reassemble their canoe out in the water. Fortunately this is relatively easy to do.

The teams quitting the sand castle task do not have to wait 4 hours. Instead the ukulele guy give them their next clue at once and they are all off in a mad dash towards the canoes. They get their canoes in the water in the following order:
  9(-1) Matt & Daniel
 10(-1) Max & Katie
 11(-4) Caroline & Jennifer

They are not far apart so it's gonna be a tense race. Matt & Daniel tip over immediately when they sit down in their canoe so they fall behind the others. But once they get going they start gaining on the other teams. But then they tip over again, this time in deeper water. This time it is harder to get the water out of the canoe and to get back into it. By the time they are back up in the canoe the other teams are way ahead.

Teams reach Phil and the mat in the following order:
  1(+0) Jessica & John, win the two express passes
  2(+0) Bates & Anthony
  3(+0) Dave & Connor
  4(+1) Pam & Winnie
  5(-1) Mona & Beth, just after #4
  6(+0) Joey & Meghan
  7(+1) Chuck & Wynona
  8(-1) Idries & Jamil
  9(+1) Max & Katie
 10(+1) Caroline & Jennifer
 11(-2) Matt & Daniel, are eliminated

At the pit stop John have second thoughts about their alliance "We agreed we're gonna give the express pass to the second team of our alliance to cross the finish line. And although we want to stay true to our word, but at the same time we want to play the game smart. We don't want to just hand over advantages to other teams, so we'll see how things play out", I.e. he wants to eat the cake but still keep it.

According to the rules of the alliance the second express pass should go to Dave & Connor.

 "It's business in the front and party in the back", Chuck gets the title while describing his hair to Phil

Max & Katie and Caroline & Jennifer will have a 4h longer pit stop than the other teams since they quit the last road block.

 "And we get beat canoeing by two blond girls, I'm sure we're never gonna hear the end of this at the firehouse", Daniel


Note, edited to fix flight departure times and that it is of course Chuck who has the wonderful mullet and gets the title quote.

[Chateau d If]

 

Wow!  Love it

Joey ?  (for the title)   

[georgiapeach]

Chuck for the title, the mullet from the 70's!

What do the (+/-) mean please?

Flight 1:
 1(+2) John
 2(+0) Jamil

Flight 2:
 3(+1) Connor
 4(-3) Winnie

And I agree, totally awesome!!

[RaceUntilWeDie]

Chuck for the title, the mullet from the 70's!

What do the (+/-) mean please?

Flight 1:
 1(+2) John
 2(+0) Jamil

Flight 2:
 3(+1) Connor
 4(-3) Winnie

And I agree, totally awesome!!

It means that John caught up 2 positions (they were 3rd to rip open the Roadblock clue but 1st to sign up for the Flight, which is obviously Flight 1.)

And it should be self-explanatory for the rest of the placements

[georgiapeach]

Oh okay...thanks!

[Declive]

These are back!!! 

[redskevin88]

I believe Chuck gets the title quote, but other than that, good work!

[maf]

Racing report
Amazing Race Season 22, Episode 2, "Loose lips sink ships"
Film date: probably Nov 15 2012

Teams are released from the pit stop at the Motu Cafe. At least that is what we are told. In reality teams are released on a jetty by the Hilton hotel. We are only shown a few team departures. Teams should have been released in the following order.
Note that the last two teams had 4 extra hours added to their pit stop since they gave up on a roadblock in the previous leg.

1.	Jessica & John	02:56
2.	Bates & Anthony	?
3.	Dave & Connor	?
4.	Pam & Winnie	?
5.	Mona & Beth	?
6.	Joey & Meghan	?
7.	Chuck & Wynona	?
8.	Idries & Jamil	?
9.	Max & Katie	09:14	(+06:18)
10.	Caroline & Jennifer	09"15	(+06:19)

Route info: "Make your way by water taxi to Moto Toopua Nui". Teams must now travel by water taxi to the Hilton Bora Bora. Here they must search the grounds for the wedding chapel where they'll receive a blessing from a local priest. The water taxis begin operation at 07:30.

This is a very contrived hours of operations point since they in fact already are on Moto Toopua Nui. They will have to wait for a water taxi which will take them one lap around the island and deliver them them to a jetty on the other side of the hotel.

The first 8 teams are all released in time for the first departure. Dave & Connor take Jessica & John to the side and ask if they are going to honor the alliance. John says they will, but stresses that they must keep the alliance secret. He wants the other teams to suck up to him.

Choice quotes:
 "First rule in the alliance is the fact that it doesn't exist. And if we find out that one of the six teams that's not part of it all of a sudden becomes aware of it. Then the whole alliance falls apart. Loose lips sinks ships.", John invents reasons to not honor the alliance (and gets the title)
 "Honestly I think that condition of 'if anybody fins out' is ridiculous", Connor sees through the bull****
 "I don't really wanna suck up, that's against my nature", Mona sets standards for herself

At 07:30 the boats arrive to take the teams on a lap around the island. Once back on land teams rush to find the wedding chapel and the priest. This turns out to be up on a small hill so teams are quite winded when they reach him. They receive their blessing in the following order:
  1. Dave & Connor
  2. Jessica & John
  3. Bates & Anthony
  4. Joey & Meghan
  5. Mona & Beth
  6. Pam & Winnie
  7. Idries & Jamil
  8. Chuck & Wynona
  9. Max & Katie
 10. Caroline & Jennifer

Choice quotes:
 "Sorry you got a sucky partner", Wynona is sorry she can't run up the hill

DETOUR

Detour: 'Pick A Pearl' or 'Take
A Trunk'

Pick A Pearl: At a pearl farm in
Povai Bay, dive to retrieve
lines of oyster shells from a
main line. Then bring the
oyster shells to the surface and
open them up until you find two
red pearls.

Take A Trunk: Walk along the
ocean floor of Poval Bay and
search for a sunken chest.
Then unpack and set up the
contents of the chest to receive
your next clue.

Note: Only six teams can
perform this Detour at one
time. First come, first served

Pick a pearl is pretty straightforward as long as you're not deadly afraid of open water.

In take a trunk teams get to wear special dive helmets which provide air to them. The trunks are easy to find since they are just sitting in a pile next to the ladder teams descend on. They turn out to contain a complete picnic kit which teams must unpack and set up next to an umbrella on the sea floor. Once they are done a waiter, a diver wearing a tux, will come with their next clue.

For both detours teams must pick up a set of water-shoes and snorkeling gear before heading down from the priest. Dave & Connor forget this and doesn't realize until they are out in the boat arriving at the diving site. They have to go back and fetch their things before they can get into the water. This costs them a lot of time.

The water at the diving site is crystal clear and the diving looks wonderful.

Choice quotes:
 "We're currently in first place, so it feels good", Connor haven't realized they have forgotten to pick up their gear yet
 "Even without brains, two are better than one", Bates
 "It was the coolest thing ever", Beth enjoyed the detour

Joey & Meghan come up with a good system where he fetches the oysters and she opens them in the boat.

Winnie & Pam did not feel comfortable with the ocean, but they did
the detour with too much complaining.
 "I can barely keep afloat, i was so worried feeling like the ocean was just gonna swallow me whole", Pam

Max & Katie and Caroline & Jennifer are almost 2 ours behind the other teams so at the priest they decide to work together and pick the trunk detour. They both know that they are fighting for their survival.

But the alliance quickly falls apart when they reach the boats.
 "They want to throw us under the bus as fast as they can. And we wanna do the same", Max is refreshingly honest

 "I was hyperventilating a little bit", Max was not comfortable wearing the dive helmet
 "I wasn't panicking at all. I was like looking for Nemo", Katie was more relaxed

The ones really struggling at this detour are Idries & Jamil. They are petrified by the water so they are having a very hard time. Jamil even wants to take the penalty.
 "Know our limitation and let's go", Jamil wants to give up and not waste time
 "This water is deep as hell', Jamil is not comfortable in the about 4-6m deep water
 "I'm telling you, it's not gonna be comfortable but we can do it[/i", Idries
Eventually Idries wins out and they start picking up shells. Even though the rescue divers must come in at least once and lend some help. Unfortunately they pick the shells up one by one instead of untying the line they are fastened on. In the process they drop a few oysters. This is very unfortunate because when they have picked all their oysters, long after all other teams have left, they still only have one pearl. They decide to switch detour and make quick work of the trunk side.
 "Life lesson for the kids is never give up", Idries

Teams complete the detour in the following order:
  1(+3) Joey & Meghan, pearl
  2(+0) Jessica & John, pearl
  3(+0) Bates & Anthony, pearl
  4(-3) Dave & Connor, pearl, not long after #1
  5(+0) Mona & Beth, trunk
  6(+2) Chuck & Wynona, pearl
  7(-1) Pam & Winnie, pearl
  8(+1) Max & Katie, trunk
  9(+1) Caroline & Jennifer, trunk
 10(-3) Idries & Jamil, pearl, switched to trunk

Route info: "Make your way by personal watercraft to Motu Tapu". Teams must now swim over to a jet ski. They must then use a local map to guide themselves to Motu Tapu.

 "It was an epic ride. I seriously felt like we were in a movie escaping from the bad guys", Joey

The only team having trouble finding Motu Tapu were Pam & Winnie. They on the other hand got lost big time and waste a lot of time before they finally find it.
 "We're both not very comfortable on the ocean", Winnie
 "We wasted so much time. We really let the ocean get the best of us", Pam

Motu Tapu is a really small island where production has arranged for a local band and dancers to create a festive atmosphere. Teams find their next clue in a clue-box on the beach in the following order:
  1(+0) Joey & Meghan
  2(+0) Jessica & John
  3(+1) Dave & Connor
  4(-1) Bates & Anthony
  5(+0) Mona & Beth
  6(+0) Chuck & Wynona
  7(+0) Pam & Winnie
  8(+0) Max & Katie
  9(+0) Caroline & Jennifer, a few seconds after #8
 10(+0) Idries & Jamil, long after the others

ROAD BLOCK

Who's a well-balanced
individual?

In this road block contestants must walk on stilts and kick a coconut across a 35 yards wide field on the beach. If they fall down they must start over from the edge, but they can leave their coconut where it is. "Once their nut rolls over the line they can make their way to the pit stop[\i]" Phil says.

Max & Katie and Caroline & Jennifer catch up to Pam & Winnie at this road block so for a while there are three teams which all realize they may be fighting to avoid last.

Choice quotes:
 "This is really hard", Joey learns that walking on stilts is harder than it looks
 "Just like wearing heels", Pam, who still struggles
 "I grew up doing gymnastics, cheerleading and all that", Caroline had no problems with this
 "Caroline just kicked his ass, so that's pretty embarrassing for him", Katie is not happy at the road block

 "It might sound cheesy but it helps to see her and think 'I have got to get this done'", Max sees Katie at the other end of the field
 "Or I'll kill you", Katie fills in

 "They just beat us and that's really embarrassing", Winnie about Pam getting beaten by Max

In the end two of the local dancing guys wait by the finish line to motivate Pam.

Teams complete this roadblock in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1(+3)	Bates & Anthony*	(1-2)
2(+1)	Dave & Connor*	(1-2)
3(-1)	Jessica* & John	(2-1)
4(+2)	Chuck* & Wynona	(2-1)
5(-4)	Joey* & Meghan	(2-1)
6(-1)	Mona & Beth*	(1-2)
7(+2)	Caroline* & Jennifer	(2-1)
8(+0)	Max* & Katie	(2-1)
9(-2)	Pam* & Winnie	(2-1)
10(+0)	Idries & Jamil*	(1-2)

         

The pit stop is somewhere on the island. It should not be hard to find since the island is really small. There are multiple footraces to reach Phil before other teams.

The first footrace is for 1st place. In this Dave ruptures his achilles tendon (at least that is his own diagnosis as it happens).
 "I can't walk, I'd like to see a physician to determine if I can keep going", Dave
 
The second footrace is between Chuck & Wynona and Joey & Meghan.

Teams reach Phil in the following order:
  1(+0) Bates & Anthony, win a trip to London
  2(+0) Dave & Connor, a few seconds after #1
  3(+0) Jessica & John
  4(+1) Joey & Meghan
  5(-1) Chuck & Wynona
  6(+0) Mona & Beth
  7(+0) Caroline & Jennifer
  8(+0) Max & Katie
  9(+0) Pam & Winnie
 10(+0) Idries & Jamil

 "We gave it our best effort. We didn't achieve our goal but we gave it our best effort. And I think that once the sting wears off we'll be able to rest easy with that", Idries

Note, fixed Pam & Winnies decline at the road block

[Declive]

maf , Pam and Winnie should have a -2 in the roadblock.

[georgiapeach]

Thanks Maf!!

[Chateau d If]

You have $1 for this leg of the race!

[Declive]

I wonder why they gave money for the Bora-Bora leg...even being 1 dollar.

[Chateau d If]

A fee for the blessing     

[Plaidmoon]

A tip for the nice waiter that brought your clue?   

[David]

Has there been any leg with "You have no money for this leg of the Race"? That could be the answer. I recall lots of $1 Pitstart clues, but am not sure about giving nothing at all.

[Declive]

Has there been any leg with "You have no money for this leg of the Race"? That could be the answer. I recall lots of $1 Pitstart clues, but am not sure about giving nothing at all.

We had " You have ZERO Dollars for this leg of the race"

[Air]

Has there been any leg with "You have no money for this leg of the Race"? That could be the answer. I recall lots of $1 Pitstart clues, but am not sure about giving nothing at all.

We had " You have ZERO Dollars for this leg of the race"

When?

[Declive]

Has there been any leg with "You have no money for this leg of the Race"? That could be the answer. I recall lots of $1 Pitstart clues, but am not sure about giving nothing at all.

We had " You have ZERO Dollars for this leg of the race"

When?

Some final leg or 11th leg...i just can't remember what and when

[Hooky]

Has there been any leg with "You have no money for this leg of the Race"? That could be the answer. I recall lots of $1 Pitstart clues, but am not sure about giving nothing at all.

We had " You have ZERO Dollars for this leg of the race"

When?

Some final leg or 11th leg...i just can't remember what and when

That would probably be the legs where the last team received zero dollars - the old non-elimination penalty.

[ianthebalance]

Has there been any leg with "You have no money for this leg of the Race"? That could be the answer. I recall lots of $1 Pitstart clues, but am not sure about giving nothing at all.

We had " You have ZERO Dollars for this leg of the race"

When?

Season 10, Leg 3: Mongolia to Vietnam
Also happend sometime in Season 1 and Season 15.

[apskip]

Has there been any leg with "You have no money for this leg of the Race"? That could be the answer. I recall lots of $1 Pitstart clues, but am not sure about giving nothing at all.

We had " You have ZERO Dollars for this leg of the race"

When?

Some final leg or 11th leg...i just can't remember what and when

That would probably be the legs where the last team received zero dollars - the old non-elimination penalty.

Hooky,

The NELs would not count under my definition of "received 0 dollars." Only the last team from the prior leg of NEL would get 0 dollars starting the following leg. All other teams got a normal amount.

[maf]

Racing report
Amazing Race Season 22, Episode 3, "Like James Bond again"
Film date: Nov 16-19 2012

This episode starts with Dave, the father in the Dave & Connor team, getting his foot examined by a local doctor on Bora Bora. The verdict is that he needs a Sonogram from a doctor in Papeete. In the meantime he is given crutches.
 "It's not over until it's over. We're not quitters and we're not gonna quit", Dave is determined to try to continue

The last pit stop was on Moto Tapu. And according to interviews teams spent the night there. But the next morning teams are again released from the Hilton Bora Bora in the following order:

1.	Bates & Anthony	08:54
2.	Dave & Connor	08:55	(+0:01)
3.	Jessica & John	08:56	(+0:02)
4.	Joey & Meghan	09:00	(+0:06)
5.	Chuck & Wynona	09:01	(+0:07)
6.	Mona & Beth	09:06	(+0:12)
7.	Caroline & Jennifer	10:49	(+1:55)
8.	Max & Katie	11:08	(+2:14)
9.	Pam & Winnie	11:48	(+2:54)

Route info: "Make your way to Phil's home town Christchurch, New Zealand". Once teams arrive they must self drive to Rakaia River Gorge. This long trip starts with a taxi-boat ride to the Bora Bora airport. Here teams end up on different flights to Papeete.

At this time we learn that John will honor his word and give the second express pass to Dave & Connor. He feels they won't be as competitive since Dave is injured and ultimately John  wants to beat the hockey players.

 "Furthest place we've been out of the country is probably Niagara Falls", Wynona

 "Shall I slow these guys down?", John tries to distract the hockey brothers to make them miss the flight
 "They're definitely the shadiest team in this whole thing", but the hockey players see right through him

 "Now is the time to hand over the express pass then", John learns that Dave will need to see a doctor in Papeete

 "No one is going to be kissing their asses any more", Bates see the express pass handover

 "Today we're gonna strategize and think before we act", Winnie has a new strategy

Flight 1 is
 VT420 BOB-PPT Nov-16 09:40-10:30
and carries
 Bates & Anthony
 Jessica & John

Flight 2 is
 VT268 BOB-PPT Nov-16 11:00-11:50
and carries
 Chuck & Wynona
 Mona & Beth
 Max & Katie
 Dave & Connor
 Joey & Meghan
 Caroline & Jennifer

Flight 3 is
 VT442 BOB-PPT Nov-16 17:55-18:45
and carries
 Pam & Winnie

In Papeete teams rush to the check-in area for international flights. Only to find it closed and deserted. The next flight out is not until the next morning.

 "We've got some time to kill", The hockey players learn that the next flight is in 22 hours
 "Play some cards?", John and Jessica are with them
 "We could've played for the express pass, but it's gone", John, who knows that Bates does know

As the flight is not until the next morning Dave has plenty of time to see a doctor. He learns that his Achilles tendon and the muscle are both torn. They get a plastic cast for his foot and he has already received a pair of crutches. He gets a round of applause from the other teams when they get back to the airport.

At the airport John & Jessica try to build alliances. They see the hockey players as their biggest threat and want alliances to share information regarding travel.

 "This is so ghetto fabulous what we're doing", Caroline & Jennifer fetch cardboard to sleep on for themselves and Bates & Anthony

The next morning all teams get tickets on the flight to Auckland:
 TN101 PPT-AKL Nov-17 08:05-15:25 (landed 2:30 late)

In Auckland there is a mad dash to the ticketing counter for the next flight to Christchurch. Fortunately for teams there are plenty of flights even though many are fairly full. The only ones struggling are Chuck & Wynona who doesn't seem to understand where to go in the airport, so they end up on the last flight.

 "So, where is everybody at", Chuck wonders where the other teams (who have already left) are
 "Uh oh, I think we're screwed", A short while later he realizes they are the only ones left

Flight 1:
 NZ547 AKL-CHC Nov-18 17:06-18:30
Carries:
 Pam & Winnie

Flight 2:
 NZ543 AKL-CHC Nov-18 17:30-19:01
Carries:
 Jessica & John
 Mona & Beth
 Dave & Connor
 Joey & Meghan
 Max & Katie

Flight 3:
 NZ557 AKL-CHC Nov-18 18:49-20:14 (took off late and landed 0:24 late)
Carries:
 Bates & Anthony
 Caroline & Jennifer

Flight 4:
 NZ553 AKL-CHC Nov-18 19:38-21:04
Carries:
 Chuck & Wynona

In Christchurch teams find their cars and start driving towards the Rakaia river gorge (80km 1:01). Once they arrive at the Discovery Jet boat tours they have to pull a number for the jet boat tours starting the next day at 06:00.

 "This alliance with the boys is actually really helpful because we really like them, we just feel comfortable and safe with them", Jennifer likes the hockey players

 "Don't they say there's more sheep in New Zealand than there is people?", Connor sees lots of sheep
 "It'd be great to get some fresh lamb for dinner", Dave takes the practical approach

 "Lord of the rings style", Joey gets his first glimpse of the gorge

Teams end up with the following numbers:
 1. Dave & Connor
 2. Jessica & John
 3. Joey & Meghan
 4. Max & Katie
 5. Pam & Winnie, got lost on the way
 6. Mona & Beth
 7. Caroline & Jennifer, missed the numbers first but in the end snatched it just before the next team
 8. Bates & Anthony
 9. Chuck & Wynona

Teams will spend the night camping next to the sign. There are tents pitched and wood for a nice fire. The next morning Connor says they will do all they can to win this leg, including using the express pass, since they do not know how much longer they will be able to stay in the race.

Teams get to drive the jet boat themselves, with a 'real' driver behind. The boats seem to depart within a few minutes of each other.

 "Those things are rocket ships on the water. It was a blast", Dave liked driving the boat
 "We're like James Bond again", Meghan gets the title

In the mixed teams we have the men driving the boats, except for Max & Katie where Katie takes control.

Further up the gorge teams encounter a clue box. Next to it is a bunch of ATVs and some helmets. Teams get their clue here in the same order as they left with their boats.

Detour: Rev it up or reel it in.

Teams must start by driving themselves to the detour on the ATV.

In rev it up teams must drive a modified vintage car. Both team members must drive slalom out and back through a set of cones. Their combined time must be under 83 seconds.

In reel it in each team member must use a rod and reel to catch one fish which is at least 12 inches long. This is in a catch and release pond so there is plenty of fish in the water.

Dave & Connor initially went to 'rev it up', but when they realized the cars had manual transmissions they switched since Dave can't use the clutch at the moment.

 "Second gear just sucks", John hasn't yet realized that the parking brake is still on
 "Those fish are pretty dangerous. They might jump up and get you", The judge comments on the fact that Dave keeps his helmet on
 "Chuck's a really good fisherman and I go on the boat a lot. I watch him fish so I'm not like a complete idiot to this", Wynona
 "I quickly realized that changing gears is hard, so we just kept it in one", Caroline
 "Laughable", Max on his performance
 "That was disgusting", Wynona tosses her, approved, fish back in the water

Teams complete the detour in the following order
 1(+0) Dave & Connor, wanted to drive but changed to fish, here they did a quick attempt before using the Express pass
 2(+0) Jessica & John, drive, times: 84, 78
 3(+0) Joey & Meghan, drive, times: 92, 82
 4(+2) Mona & Beth, drive, time: 81
 5(+3) Bates & Anthony, drive, times: ?, ?, 80
 6(-2) Max & Katie, drive, times: 108, ?, 90, ?, ?, 83
 7(-2) Pam & Winnie, drive, times: ?, ?, ?, ?, 80
 8(+1) Chuck & Wynona, fish
 9(-2) Caroline & Jennifer, drive, times: 108, ?, ?, 82

ROUTE INFO

Drive yourselves to
Mount Hutt Station and
search for your next
clue.

Teams must first ride their ATV back to the boat and then the boat back to where their cars are parked. Then they must drive themselves to Mt. Hutt Station (4.9km 0:04). The next clue box stands by the station entrance.

 "Hahahah, I hate when I do that", John just entered the left front seat of the car, but the wheel is on the right

Some teams have a hard time finding Mt Hutt Station. Two off them go all the way up on a very foggy Mt Hutt, which is not the right place.

 "Katie and I like to be in control. I'm a warm blooded Italian, she's a cold German and thinks she knows everything", Max
 "It's creepy up here, we might run into an orch", Bates in the fog on Mt Hutt

Teams reach the clue here in the following order:
 1(+0) Dave & Connor
 2(+0) Jessica & John, arrive as #1 leave the task
 3(+4) Pam & Winnie
 4(+4) Chuck & Wynona
 5(+4) Caroline & Jennifer
 6(-3) Joey & Meghan
 7(-3) Mona & Beth
 8(-3) Bates & Anthony
 9(-3) Max & Katie

ROAD BLOCK

Who wants to keep their
Race from going to the
dogs?

In this road block teams must take part in a Shemozzle race. They must dress up in gumboots and shorts as well as a burlap sack. They must then run an obstacle course, together with a sheep dog, where they will be covered in molasses and chicken feathers. The course ends with a big slip-n-slide into a pool. Along the way they must collect chicken eggs. They are done when they have delivered 12 unbroken eggs to the finish line. All teams seem to require three runs through the course to get 12 eggs.

The task seems to take 20 minutes or more.

 "The first obstacle was the box. It was disgusting", Connor
 "Jen, you are just leaving Beverly Hills behind today", Caroline refers to the fact the Jennifer, who is less than glamorous at the moment, grew up in Beverly Hills

Teams complete this roadblock in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1(+0)	Dave & Connor*	(1-3)	At 08:52
2(+0)	Jessica & John*	(2-2)
3(+0)	Pam & Winnie*	(2-2)
4(+1)	Caroline & Jennifer*	(2-2)
?	Chuck* & Wynona	(3-1)
?	Joey & Meghan*	(2-2)
?	Mona* & Beth	(2-2)
?	Bates & Anthony*	(1-3)
?	Max & Katie*	(2-2)

         

ROUTE INFO

Make your way to the
next Pit Stop: Terrace
Downs!

Warning!! The last team
to check-in may be
eliminated.

Teams must now drive themselves to Terrace Downs (17km 0:13).

 "This could be one of our last legs. We're obviously not gonna as competitive as the other teams", Connor

Teams find Phil in the following order:
 1(+0) Dave & Connor, win a trip to Bangkok
 ? Jessica & John
 ? Pam & Winnie
 ? Caroline & Jennifer
 ? Chuck & Wynona
 ? Joey & Meghan
 ? Mona & Beth
 ? Bates & Anthony
 ? Max & Katie

"Guys, the race is still going. I have your next clue", Phil does not let the teams rest

When the episode ends one team has reached the pit stop, only to be
told that they shoudl continue race. Three other teams are on their
way to the pit stop and five teams are still at the final road block.

Note: edited the film end date

[ianthebalance]

It should be from November 16-19. The international date line added another day.

[maf]

Racing report
Amazing Race Season 22, Episode 4, "I love monkeys"
Film date: Nov 19-20 2012

This episode is a continuation of the previous as it was a to be continued leg. It starts as the first team reaches the pit stop in New Zealand. Three teams are on their way to the pit stop and five teams are still at the road block.

We are not shown which order teams finished the road block, but teams reach Phil in the following order:
 1. Dave & Connor
 2. Jessica & John
 3. Bates & Anthony
 4. Pam & Winnie, seconds after #3
 5. Joey & Meghan
 6. Caroline & Jennifer
 7. Mona & Beth
 8. Max & Katie, seconds after #7
 9, Chuck & Wynona

 "That was a lucky break", Wynona on the fact that they are still racing

Teams must now fly to Bali. Once there they must make their way to the Ubud monkey forest.

Most teams end up in a travel agency. But Max & Katie ask some people staying at the hotel by the Pit Stop and arrange tickets over the phone. Pam & Winnie use the computer in a Luggage shop to book tickets.

 "We're keeping it super simple. Everyone runs their own race and we help them out when we can", Meghan on their alliance with Mona & Beth and team J&J

Teams probably end up on the following flights:

Flight #1
 DJ63  CHC-MEL Nov-19 16:08-17:35
 QF653 MEL-PER Nov-19 20:33-21:29 (some teams)
 DJ697 MEL-PER Nov-19 21:31-22:47 (the others, landed 1:42 late)
 QZ841 PER-DPS Nov-20 04:38-08:25
This carried:
 Max & Katie (may have traveled another route to Perth)
 Dave & Connor
 Caroline & Jennifer
 Pam & Winnie

Flight #2
 ? CHC-AKL Nov-19 (plenty of possible flights)
 SQ282 AKL-SIN Nov-20 01:02-06:33 (probably)
 GA841 SIN-DPS Nov-20 08:15-10:35
This carried:
 Joey & Meghan
 Jessica & John
They were supposed to fly the last leg on QZ8499 which arrived at 12:08 but found the better flight in Singapore

Flight #3
 DJ73  CHC-SYD Nov-19 17:00-18:31 (probably)
 MH140 SYD-KUL Nov-19 21:49-03:21 (probably)
 MH715 KUl-DPS Nov-20 09:10-12:02
 Mona & Beth
 Chuck & Wynona
 Bates & Anthony

Teams exit the airport and jump into taxis for the ride to the Ubud monkey forest (36.8km 1:04) in the following order:
 1. Pam & Winnie
 2. Dave & Connor
 3. Max & Katie
 4. Caroline & Jennifer
 5. Jessica & John
 6. Joey & Meghan
 7. Bates & Anthony
 8. Mona & Beth
 9. Chuck & Wynona

Caroline & Jennifer provide some entertainment for their taxi driver by singing in the car.

In part the clue they were given at the starting line reads: "... sacred Monkey Forest Ubud. Once there choose a coconut and give it to a monkey, who will then show you your next clue". The next clue lies within a small metal container in the coconut. Teams must give the coconut to a monkey who will open it in order to eat it. A handler will then retrieve the clue and give it to the team.

 "It's actually more difficult than it looks because there are so many tourists around distracting and scaring away the monkeys", Pam
 "Scratching his butt and taking a drink, looks like me in the morning", Max feel kinship with the monkey

Teams manage to get a monkey to open their nuts in the following order:
 1(+1) Dave & Connor
 2(+1) Max & Katie
 3(-2) Pam & Winnie
 4(+0) Caroline & Jennifer
 5(+4) Chuck & Wynona
 6(+2) Mona & Beth
 7(-2) Jessica & John
 8(-2) Joey & Meghan
 9(-2) Bates & Anthony, taxi driver got lost

DETOUR

Detour: 'Sandy Bottom" or
'Fruity Top"

Sandy Bottom: Dredge the
volcanic sand used to make
bricks from the bottom of the
Ayung River. Then using
baskets, carry the sand in the
traditional manner to the brick
maker on Gang Bucu. When
you have delivered the required
amount of sand to the brick
maker, you will receive your next
clue.

Fruity Top: Prepare  an
elaborate religious offering
knows as a "Gebogan". Then,
join a procession to Pura Desa
Puseh Temple. Once the Priest
has blessed your "Gebogan",
place it on the Panggung to
receive your next clue.

For both Detours: Hold on to
...

In Sandy bottom teams must carry the sand on their head about 200 yards up a steep path to the brick maker. Teams seems to have to make two trips to get the required amount of black sand.

The Gebogan is trickier to prepare than it looks. It is also fairly heavy so teams are impressed by the lady who carries it on her head in the procession to the temple.

 "Attention to detail is going to be the key", Connor see what they have to make
 "I design sets for a living", Pam actually have some relevant experience
 "This is grunt work which we are good at", Mona finds a fitting detour
 "Jess and I are pretty detail oriented, probably me more than she is, so this is right up our alley", John on his way to the detour

Jessica & John are dropped off at the wrong location. But the address seems right so they enter the house there and confuses the local a lot. They spend some time helping him build religious offerings before realizing they are in the wrong location.

 "Jessica, all we have to do is build this", John has found the right place and think it looks easy

Bates & Anthony wanted to do the sand, but their taxi driver only knew where fruity top was so they did that one instead.

 "It was awesome to see other teams", Bates & Anthony are glad to find others at the detour since they were alone at the monkeys

Jessica & John really struggle at the fruit detour. Their offering is not approved even after multiple attempts. They consider using the express pass, but decide to try the other side of the detour instead. When they arrive there they are the only ones there. They therefore assume Mona & Beth are behind them when in fact the moms have already completed the task.

 "This is a dream came true compared to building that ridiculous offering", John start the sand carrying task

Teams complete the detour in the following order:
 1(+2) Pam & Winnie, fruit
 2(-1) Dave & Connor, fruit
 3(-1) Max & Katie, fruit
 4(+0) Caroline & Jennifer, fruit
 5(+3) Joey & Meghan, fruit
 6(+0) Mona & Beth, sand
 7(-2) Chuck & Wynona, fruit
 8(+1) Bates & Anthony, fruit
 9(-2) Jessica & John, started fruit but switched to sand

ROUTE INFO

Make your way to
Uluwatu Surf Beach on
the Bukit peninsula and
search for your next
clue.

The taxi ride to Uluwatu surf beach probably takes around 1.5 hours.

 "This got to be the longest leg in the history of the race", Mona is tired after racing non-stop for 4 days

 "Either way we're second to last place. I mean I guess we could be last place. But we're still feeling allright because we have an express pass", John is not worried in the taxi

Teams find the clue box at the Uluwatu Surf Beach in the following order:
 1(+0) Pam & Winnie
 2(+0) Dave & Connor
 3(+0) Max & Katie
 4(+0) Caroline & Jennifer
 5(+2) Chuck & Wynona
 6(-1) Joey & Meghan, were dropped off at the wrong beach first
 7(-1) Mona & Beth
 8(+0) Bates & Anthony
 9(+0) Jessica & John

ROAD BLOCK

Who's ready to get
totally tubular and be
worked in a way-gnarly
challenge?

In this road block teams must find a surf shop, which has a wonderful location on an outcropping by the water. Once there they must search the shop for a surfboard with an image they have all seen before. The clue doesn't tell then which image but it is the priest which blessed them on Bora Bora. Once they have chosen a board they need to find the pit stop and pick up their partner along the way. They must bring a correct board to check in. If not they have to run back to the surf shop and try again, and there are lots of stairs on the way.

Winnie recognizes the picture as soon as she sees it. But she has trouble locating the pit stop. She runs back to the surf shop to look from there and then Connor, who is struggling, sneaks a peek at her board. This even though she refused to let him look at her board unless he agreed to let the girls get first place.

 "It's the priest that married me and Katie", Max also recognizes the picture

Caroline really struggles with this task. She makes multiple wrong guesses before she finally, by chance, picks the right board.

 "Can I cry for a little", Caroline takes a crying break
 "There's no crying on the Amazing race", Meanwhile in the taxi Mona accepts fate

 "Chuck's lost, I saw his head", Wynona can only watch as Chuck has trouble finding his way

 "Hey, Mona. It's this.", Joey shows Mona the right board at the pit stop (she had brought the wrong one)

At the pit stop Phil takes care so that teams do not accidentally see each others boards when they arrive close to each other.

 "You didn't wanna tell them what board it was?", Phil to Mona & Beth as Chuck is leaving after having brought the wrong board

In the end only Chuck & Wynona and Jessica & John are working the task.

 "Think we're the last two", Wynona to Jessica as they wait on their partners
 "I'm so scared. We don't wanna be last. We have an Express Pass still", Jessica feels the gravity of the situation

 "I feel so ill, like knowing that we could get eliminated right now", Jessica feels the pressure as she helplessly waits for John
 "Oh, my god. So, we're last", Jessica see Chuck & Wynona check in in the distance

Even though they are last John keeps searching for the correct board, probably hoping for a non-elimination. After 1:15 he finally picks the correct board.

 "I wanna look at these boards", John wants to look at the approved boards at the Pit Stop
 "You're not allowed to look at those boards", but Phil stops him

 "I'm just so bummed because we still have an express pass left that we never even got to utilize", Jessica

Teams complete this roadblock and find Phil in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1(+1)	Dave & Connor*	(1-4)	Win $5000 each
2(-1)	Pam & Winnie*	(2-3)
3(+0)	Max* & Katie	(3-2)
4(+0)	Caroline* & Jennifer	(3-2)
5(+1)	Joey* & Meghan	(3-2)
6(+0)	Mona* & Beth	(3-2)
7(+1)	Bates* & Anthony	(2-3)
8(-3)	Chuck* & Wynona	(4-1)
9(+0)	Jessica & John*	(2-3)	Are eliminated

         

 "There's absolutely zero regrets", John

[maf]

Racing report
Amazing Race Season 22, Episode 5, "Your tan is totally cool"
Film date: Nov 21-22 2012

Teams start from what looks to be the Put Stop hotel in Bali in the following order:

1.	Dave & Connor	05:01
2.	Pam & Winnie	05:21	(+0:20)
3.	Max & Katie	05:25	(+0:24)
4.	Caroline & Jennifer	07:20	(+2:19)
5.	Joey & Meghan	09:06	(+4:05)
6.	Mona & Beth	09:12	(+4:11)
7.	Bates & Anthony	09:14	(+4:13)
8.	Chuck & Wynona	09:23	(+4:22)

Route info: Fly to Hanoi, Vietnam. Once teams land they must make their way to the Rap Cong Nhang Theater and Gallery 42, where they will find their next clue. Team also learn that there is a U-turn ahead.

We now learn that Dave has been in contact with doctors at home and they recommend surgery within a week. And even though they hate to do it they feel they must quit the race.

 "We will fly to Hanoi and be eliminated", Dave

At the travel agency Dave & Connor let the other teams there, Pam & Winnie and Max & Katie know that they are quitting the race.

 "No gamesmanship bs, right?", Max wants to be sure, but is fully of sympathy when they assure him it is true
 "With Dave & Connor gone. As much as we like them, our chances at staying in the front of the pack increased exponentially", Pam

There is a lot of talk about the upcoming U-turn. Most teams plan to U-turn Jessica & John alternatively Meghan & Joey or Mona & Beth.

 "We do kind of have a target on our back you know, doing so well at the different detours and road block", Anthony fears the U-turn

Teams take two different routes to Hanoi.

The first teams fly via Singapore, probably on
 SQ941 DPS-SIN Nov-21 09:08-11:38
 VN660 SIN-HAN Nov-21 16:38-18:15
This flight carries:
 Pam & Winnie
 Max & Katie
 Dave & Connor

The other teams fly via Kuala Lumpur, probably on
 MH714 DPS-KUL Nov-21 13:02-15:48
 VN680 KIL-HAN Nov-21 19:15-21:30
This flight carries:
 Chuck & Wynona
 Bates & Anthony
 Mona & Beth
 Joey & Meghan
 Caroline & Jennifer

In Hanoi teams rush to the gallery. The first teams arrive at 19:34, only to find that it closed at 18:00. It will reopen at 09:00 the next morning. Production has thoughtfully provided space in a bar at Hotel Des Artistes where teams can spend the night.

 "We weren't going into the race with the intention of making new friends. But Max & Katie, they're actually really cool. And I feel bad now having said the things I said about them prior to knowing them", Pam & Winnie connect with Max & Katie

It is worth nothing that Dave & Connor were probably given real hotel
rooms because they are nowhere to be seen.

 "They where with us at the Singapore airport and they went to see a doctor, but they'll probably be here in the morning", Pam avoids mentioning that she knows Dave & Connor will quit

As teams from the second flight arrive at the hotel there is much catching up with what has happened. The first teams are shocked to learn that Jessica & John got eliminated, even though they still had an express pass. Meghan feel very constrained in the ensuing discussion because she feels that she can't defend John without putting an even bigger target on her back, and there is an U-turn coming up.

 "I can't get over the fact that somebody got eliminated holding on to an express pass (chuckles)", Max is vocal in his opinions

The next morning starts with pictures from the Pit Stop at the Vietnam national museum of history. Where Dave & Connor meet Phil. It gets very emotional and tears are flowing, but they have to quite the race since Dave need immediate surgery.

 "You should hold your head up and be very proud of how you ran this race", Phil to Dave & Connor

 "I really am sorry son", Dave apologizes to his son
 "I'm not", but Connor doesn't see he has anything to apologize for

Meanwhile the other teams are quickly learning how chaotic traffic in Vietnam is as they make their way to the gallery.

 "There's like 80 billion mopeds on the streets right now", Pam

Teams arrive early to the theater but have to wait until it opens at 9. The first five teams all agree who to U-turn:

 "Roller moms and Joey & Meghan is the last of the little John & Jessica minions group", Winnie explains who to U-turn

When at last Joey & Meghan and Mona & Beth turn up the mood gets tense. They feel that they are a U-turn target.

When the gallery opens at 9 teams rush in to grab their next clue which lies under a painting. Teams grab the clue in the following order (within seconds of each other):

 1. Caroline & Jennifer
 2. Joey & Meghan
 3. Pam & Winnie
 4. Bates & Anthony
 5. Mona & Beth
 6. Max & Katie
 7. Chuck & Wynona

ROAD BLOCK

Who's ready to take in
the sights and sounds of
the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam?

In this road block teams must watch a performance of a patriotic Vietnamese song. At the end dancers will reveal the words of a political slogan "Vinh quang thay thê hê thanh niên chúng ta" (Glory to our young generation). Contestants then have to find the quote on a political poster in a nearby room. The catch is that there are lots of posters and all have nearly the same quote, but only a few match exactly. If they don't find a correct poster within five minutes they have to watch the show again. Teams are also forbidden from making any notes.

 "I'm afraid to run", Wynona doesn't want to do the road block

The show is very patriotic with lines like "Vietnam Communist Party is glorious" and "Socialism is growing more beautiful with time" and lots of red flags and a portrait of uncle Ho. It is all very much over the top but feels very much Vietnam.

 "I'm an art director for commercials and films so I usually have a pretty good visual memory of things", Pam

At the second performance Beth suggest that she and Meghan help each other out by memorizing half the message each. Meghan then managed to find a correct poster, but before they could find one for Beth they had to go back to the next performance.

Teams complete this roadblock in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1.	Pam* & Winnie	(3-3)	After the first performance
2.	Chuck* & Wynona	(5-1)	After the second performance
3.	Caroline & Jennifer*	(3-3)	After the second performance
4.	Max & Katie*	(3-3)	After the second performance
5.	Joey & Meghan*	(3-3)	After the third performance
6.	Mona & Beth*	(3-3)	After the third performance
7.	Bates & Anthony*	(2-4)	After the third performance

         

ROUTE INFO

Make your way to Công
Viên Thống Nhất and
take part in the
Mûa Sapa, the
Vietnamese Bamboo
Dance, to receive your
next clue.

The dance is relatively simple, locals are moving sticks of bamboo back and forth according to a rhythm. You only need to have some rhythm to jump straight through the whole course. One catch is that you must hold your partners hand.

 "Don't hold hands", Chuck has missed an important part of the dance

Teams complete the dance in the following order:
 1(+0) Pam & Winnie
 2(+2) Max & Katie, had to retry once
 3(+2) Joey & Meghan
 4(+3) Bates & Anthony
 5(+1) Mona & Beth
 6(-4) Chuck & Wynona, had to retry many times
 7(-4) Caroline & Jennifer, taxi trouble

Detour: Make your move or make a meal.

In make your move teams must travel to the temple of literature and help set up a giant chess game. They must look at a small chess board, select a color and then place four staffs on the corresponding locations on the life sized chessboard. They must then find the correct (color and character) four human chess pieces and place them by the right staffs. Once you figure out what to do this task is pretty easy.

In make your meal teams must travel to Ngoc Song temple. Here they must pick up two empty baskets and two baskets with live chickens as well as a shopping list:
 1Kg pho noodles
 500g spring onions
 500g bean sprouts
 500g chili peppers
 300g ginger
 200g basil
 10 bulbs garlic
 12 limes
 200g coriander
They must then buy the listed ingredients in the nearby market before making their way to the cooking stations. Here their ingredients will be weighed. Once they have the correct amounts they must make two bowls of Phô.

One tricky part of the soup side was that the shopping list was written in English. So teams had to find somebody who could translate to do the shopping.

 "We're not always as crazy American", Winnie while she leads her chess pieces to the board

 "We gotta get those things", Wynona wants them to take chickens as well
 "We don't need the chickens", but Chuck overrules her

 "We have no idea what we are doing", Caroline struggles a lot at the chess task

 "It was made with love, I hope you like it", Max presents their Phô to the judge

 "We need 12 limes, and a husband who listens", Wynona is irritated that Chuck doesn't listen to her

 "These are different people but they're asking for the same thing", (in Vietnamese) shop owner when Joey & Meghan comes to buy ingredients
 "It's funny the way he's carrying these chickens", (in Vietnamese) her assistant comments on Joey

Joey & Meghan visit the same shop as some other team and the owner gives them what they need. At least that is what he thinks, but most of the stuff turns out to be the wrong things or the wrong amounts.

 "Oh, why have they got chickens?", Chuck see Joey & Meghan carrying chickens

Teams complete the detour in the following order:
 1(+0) Pam & Winnie, chess
 2(+2) Bates & Anthony, chess
 3(+0) Joey & Meghan, chess
 4(-2) Max & Katie, meal
 5(+0) Mona & Beth, chess
 6(+1) Caroline & Jennifer, chess
 7(-3) Joey & Meghan, chess
 8(-1) Chuck & Wynona, meal
 9(+0) Chuck & Wynona, chess

ROUTE INFO

Make your way to Hò
B52 to find your next
clue.

This is a B52 memorial. Part of a shot-down B52 lines in a small pond in the middle of the city. Here teams encounter a blind double U-turn.

They reach it in the following order:
 1(+0) Pam & Winnie, U-turns Joey & Meghan
 2(+1) Joey & Meghan, U-turns Chuck & Wynona
 3(-1) Bates & Anthony
 4(+0) Max & Katie
 5(+0) Mona & Beth, about a minute after #4
 6(+0) Caroline & Jennifer
 7(+0) Chuck & Wynona

Meghan is angry they were U-turned and think the other teams made a mistake when they U-turned them rather than the hockey-players, who she consider to be a stronger team. They decide to U-turn Chuck & Wynona to make sure they can stay in the race.

 "Joey & Meghan U-turned us?", Wynona when she see the U-turn board

ROUTE INFO

Make your way to the
next Pit Stop: The
grounds of The Vietnam
National Museum of
History

Warning! The last team
to check in may be
eliminated.

Phil is waiting at the the Vietnam national museum of history. The first team to reach him is Dave & Connor who apparently arrive before the gallery has even opened in the morning. But this doesn't really count since they are quitting. The remaining teams reach Phil in the following order:
 1(+0) Pam & Winnie, win a trip to Whistler in Canada
 2(+2) Max & Katie
 3(+2) Mona & Beth
 4(-1) Bates & Anthony, were surprised by the high placement which means they probably had taxi trouble
 5(+1) Caroline & Jennifer
 6(+0) Joey & Meghan
 7(+0) Chuck & Wynona, are not eliminated since Dave & Connor have quit

 "Never wanna feel confident because that's when you let your guard down, you can ask John", Winnie

 "We're gonna start fresh on the next leg. I promise I'm gonna listen to her, let her voice her opinion", Chuck

[ianthebalance]

Great recap, but John and Jessica were not on the Kuala Lumpur flight, they were eliminated.

[RaceUntilWeDie]

Great recap, but John and Jessica were not on the Kuala Lumpur flight, they were eliminated.

I don't know why but this error makes me laugh

[maf]

Great recap, but John and Jessica were not on the Kuala Lumpur flight, they were eliminated.

Oops, the danger of cut-n-paste. I was a bit rushed this week, but I have fixed that issue now.

[georgiapeach]

Thanks maf!!

[maf]

Racing report
Amazing Race Season 22, Episode 6, "Scorpion king hunter"
Film date: Nov 23-26 2012

The last pit stop was at the Vietnam national museum of history in Hanoi. According to the voice over teams start from here as well, but in reality they start outside the opera house (about 200m away). They depart in the following order:

1.	Pam & Winnie	22:40
2.	Max & Katie	23:34	(+0:54)
3.	Mona & Beth	23:37	(+0:57)
4.	Bates & Anthony	23:39	(+0:59)
5.	Caroline & Jennifer	23:46	(+1:06)
6.	Joey & Meghan	00:47	(+2:07)
7.	Chuck & Wynona	03:26	(+4:46)

The press pictures released before the episode show that teams had to go to the "Hair of the dog" bar in Hanoi to pick up their next clue. This task has been cut from the broadcast. Instead the first clue we hear is: "Make your way to the city of Maun in the Kalahari desert". Once teams touch down they must make their way to Mack air and sign up for one of three charter flights which will take them to the Makgadikgadi pans national park.

Teams must first go to a specific travel agency (Haprotravel) and buy tickets to Maun there. The catch is that there is a guard outside and they must tell him which country Maun lies in (Botswana) before he will let them in.

 "Big hair big brain Katie", Max has a nickname for his partner
 "At this point I want to keep the fact that I am smart and have a doctorate secret", There's more to Katie than meets the eyes

 "We know this is a race, but we love our friendships too. And I think Jen has a baby crush on Bates", Caroline on why they like to work with others

Teams enter the travel agency in the following order:
 1(+0) Pam & Winnie, found Botswana on the internet in a hotel
 2(+0) Max & Katie, used the same computer Pam & Winnie did
 3(+2) Caroline & Jennifer, guessed Kenya but are told Botswana by Max & Katie who are inside
 4(-1) Mona & Beth, lend a smartphone and look it up
 5(-1) Bates & Anthony, guess Kenya but are told Botswana by Caroline
 6(+0) Joey & Meghan
 7(+0) Chuck & Wynona, guesses a lot but in the end Chuck calls somebody who gives him the answer (while Wynona make guesses based on the visas they have)

At the airport Joey & Meghan go and talk to Chuck & Wynona in order to explain why they U-turned them.

 "What was the price that you stole from us?", Joey to Pam & Winnie, i.e. he knows they U-turned him
 "You guys are always like so fast, consider it a compliment that we U-turned you", Pam justifies the U-turn

All teams make the same flight which is:
 KA296 HAN->HKG Nov-24 10:55-13:33
 CX749 HKG->JNB Nov-24 23:45-06:20+1
 BP212 JNB->MUB Nov-25 11:40-13:20 (probably)

In Maun there is a mad dash across the parking lot to Mack air where teams en up on the following flights to Xhumaga:

Flight #1 at 09:00
 1. Caroline & Jennifer
 2. Bates & Anthony

Flight #2 at 09:15
 3. Max & Katie
 4. Joey & Meghan

Flight #3 at 09:30
 5. Mona & Beth
 6. Chuck & Wynona
 7. Pam & Winnie

The flights leave the next morning.

 "The flight was actually really scary", Joey did not like the small airplane
 "This is where the Lion king was made, right here", Chuck, and we can't tell if he is serious
 "Now you guys know that was a cartoon, right?", Pam injects some sanity
 "And there is turbulence", Pam at takeoff, while Winnie looks rather uncomfortable

At the Xhumaga airstrip teams find the next clue in a bowl outside the lounge (a shed with some primitive chairs and tables). They grab them in the following order:
 1(+0) Caroline & Jennifer
 2(+0) Bates & Anthony
 3(+1) Joey & Meghan
 4(-1) Max & Katie
 5(+0) Mona & Beth
 6(+0) Chuck & Wynona
 7(+0) Pam & Winnie

ROUTE INFO

Drive down
Old Xhumaga Road,
following the marked
route, and search for
your next clue.

You'll find your self-drive
vehicles in the airport
parking lot.

Teams drive down the road and after a while they spot a bunch of bushmen. Next to them are glass jars with clues inside.

 "Uh oh, I think we've got too much clothes on", The hockey brothers see the bushmen who are clothed in only a loincloth

Teams reach this clue in the following order:
 1(+1) Bates & Anthony
 2(-1) Caroline & Jennifer
 3(+0) Joey & Meghan
 4(+0) Max & Katie
 5(+0) Mona & Beth
 6(+0) Chuck & Wynona
 7(+0) Pam & Winnie

ROAD BLOCK

Who wants to make a
new friend?

Teams must now go scorpion hunting with the local bushmen. They will first be led to a scorpion hole where they will be taught how to dig out this poisonous creature. The digging happens with a stick and with your bare hands. After the contestants have touched the scorpion the bushmen will place it in the jar and lead the team to their next clue.

As Caroline is on the way to the scorpion hunting grounds one of her
guides spot something:
 "There's a lion over there", The bushman
 "Wow, you can climb", Caroline, surprised, when one of her bushmen suddenly levitates up a tree

 "I'm petrified of scorpions", Joey is very nervous
 "I'm from Texas so I'm used to scorpions", Caroline, is more relaxed

 "I have to touch it, I have to freaking touch it *sobs*", Joey calms himself on the way to the hunting grounds, or whatever

When the bushmen handle the scorpion they always start by grabbing its tail. But once that is done they are pretty casual. A number of them put the scorpion in their mouth, this apparently calms it down and makes it easier for the teams to handle it.

 "I don't mind being pinched", Bates was pinched by the scorpion's claws
 "By the country singers", Anthony fills in

Max is the only one who had the presence of mind to bring a glove.

 "With my hands? I'm only 21 year old, I don't wanna die", Joey is not comfortable digging for the scorpion
 "I hate bugs", Pam
 "I have never seen a scorpion live before. This is actually kind of cool. And I was petrified of scorpions like 10 minutes ago", Mona has a rather different reaction to the scorpion
 "My mouth was wide open, and then I thought I'd better close this mouth before the dude tries to stick it into my mouth too", Max's reaction to the bushman putting the scorpion in his mouth

 "I have to touch that thing?", Joey is still petrified
 "I'm a scorpion king hunter", Afterwards in the car, Joey is a bit braver (and gets the title)

 "I'm totally freaked out. It kind of looks like an alien", Pam is also very uncomfortable
 "Holy cow, that was probably one of the scariest thing's I've ever done", Pam got it done though

The task seems to take a little over 15 minutes to complete for the faster teams. Teams complete this roadblock in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1(+0)	Bates* & Anthony	(3-4)
2(+0)	Caroline* & Jennifer	(4-3)
3(+2)	Mona* & Beth	(3-3)
4(+0)	Max* & Katie	(4-3)
5(-2)	Joey* & Meghan	(4-3)
6(+1)	Pam* & Winnie	(4-3)
7(-1)	Chuck & Wynona*	(5-2)

         

Route info: "Take your three bushmen for a ride. Continue down old Xhumaga road and search for your next clue."

Since there is only one road nobody manages to get lost and people arrive at the next clue box in the order they left the road block.

DETOUR

Detour: 'Fire' or 'Fowl'

Fire: Light a pipe! Kindle a fire
so you can light the Bushmen
Elder's pipe. When the Elder
has taken a puff, he will hand
you your next clue.

Fowl: Catch dinner! Construct
and set a snare to catch a
Guinea Fowl. Once the snare
is set, test the trap in
traditional Bushman fashion.
If it works correctly you'll
receive your next clue.

Note: On your way to your
Detour choice, your Bushmen
will teach you a series of
animal calls and signals that
you must imitate.

The hard part of "Fire" is making the fire. Teams must start from scratch with wood, straw and zebra dung and then start a fire by rubbing the sticks together. This is very hard.

 "My god they stink", Katie doesn't like the local smells

 "When the bushmen built the fire it took them like 30 seconds. But it was really really tough", Mona find fire-making harder than it looks

 "We knew that making fire from scratch is really hard. Because we watch a lot of TV, we're very well prepared", Winnie
 "This is like Sesame street on crack", Pam imitate the bushmen

The fire making is so hard that Bates & Anthony is the only team which succeeds. After a while the other teams working on their fires start thinking about switching detours. And when Caroline & Jennifer go from though to action and do switch the other quickly follows suit. All except Max & Katie who hang on a while longer before finally giving up and switching to fowl.

Building the snare is a lot easier. The only ones really stumbling were Max & Katie who had to rebuild their snare once.

Teams complete the detour in the following order:
 1(+0) Bates & Anthony, fire
 2(+4) Pam & Winnie, fowl
 3(+4) Chuck & Wynona, fowl
 4(+1) Joey & Meghan, started fire but switched to fowl
 5(-3) Caroline & Jennifer, started fire but switched to fowl
 6(-3) Mona & Beth, started fire but switched to fowl
 7(-3) Max & Katie, started fire but switched to fowl

ROUTE INFO

Make your way on foot
with your Bushmen to
the next Pit Stop.

The Meno a Kwena
Safari Camp.

Warning: The last team
to check in may be
eliminated.

Note: Two of your
Bushmen will lead you
back to the main path.
Then, follow the marked
path to the Pit Stop.

Mona & Beth know they are second to last, but for some reason they got in their head that they should drive to the pit stop. They make their way back to where the cars are parked. Here they see that all the other cars are still present so they realize that they have to make their way on foot, and they start running down the path. The editing tries to make this look like a footrace with Max & Katie, but it feels like the moms have a pretty solid lead.

 "Come on Beth. You've got three kids, you can run", Mona (but I'm not clear on the connection between having kids and running ability)

Teams reach the pit stop in the following order:
 1(+0) Bates & Anthony, win a trip to Phuket, Thailand
 2(+0) Pam & Winnie
 3(+0) Chuck & Wynona
 4(+0) Joey & Meghan
 5(+0) Caroline & Jennifer
 6(+0) Mona & Beth
 7(+0) Max & Katie, are saved by a non-elimination

 "I think we're getting stronger", Anthony feel they know how the race works now
 "At least our body odor is", Bates

 "Today we made a stupid mistake. Tomorrow somebody else makes a stupid mistake. We just can't let it be us again", Max

[maf]

Racing report
Amazing Race Season 22, Episode 7, "Be safe and don't hit a cow"
Film date: probably Nov 27  2012

The last pit stop was at Meno a Kwena safari camp. Teams spent the night here and are released from the same place the next morning in the following order:

1.	Bates & Anthony	05:39
2.	Pam & Winnie	06:11	(+0:32)
3.	Chuck & Wynona	06:17	(+0:38)
4.	Joey & Meghan	06:23	(+0:44)
5.	Caroline & Jennifer	06:28	(+0:49)
6.	Mona & Beth	06:37	(+0:58)
7.	Max & Katie	06:49	(+1:10)

Teams must now drive themselves to Mokoro Poling station (in Boro village), where they will find their next clue. But before they can do that they must get to the cars. It is unclear if they are going to where they left them in the last episode or if teams have moved the cars during the pit stop. They are at least parked in the terrain quite a bit away from the starting line and some of the teams struggle to find them cars.

The drive to the next clue box is more than 140km long and takes well over three hours (according to Google). Part of the road requires 4-wheel drive. There are instructions taped to the steering wheels of the cars which tells teams when and how to switch between 4 and 2-wheel drive.

 "I wasn't counting sheep, I was counting lions", Bates about the night in the safari camp
 "Our faith is the most important part of who we are", Jennifer is very religious
 "We've been underperforming so much", Max is not happy with their race so far

 "The road is bad. You might get lost. You need to go with somebody else", A local gives Bates & Anthony directions and advice
 "It's tough with nobody in front of us to follow", Anthony does not feel confident in their navigational skills

 "Alright honey, pedal to the metal but be safe and don't hit a cow", Wynona gets the title as she gives driving instructions to Chuck

 "Instead of running around like an idiot, think about where you parked it", Katie to Max when they can't find their car (but she doesn't know either)

 "What screw us up the most is directions", Joey
Joey & Meghan have a hard time finding the way to the poling station. According to Joeys recap they were lost for about 3 hours. They are very happy when they eventually catch up with Max & Katie and can follow them.
 "If you're not god at map reading then this isn't the leg for you", Joey
 "I hate driving to places", Meghan feels the same

That does not mean that other teams doesn't have their problems as well. Caroline & Jennifer are caught in a speed trap (going 96km/h on a 60km/h road). They try to sweet-talk their way out of it, but to no avail.
 "Go and explain that to my boss", the policeman with the radar gun does not want to listen to their arguments
The boss at the speed trap is very nice, but firm. Teams do get fined and have to go to the police station in Maun and pay the fine of 820 pula (about $100).
 "Thank you very much, have a nice day", The smiling happy police officer says goodbye
 "Yeah, thanks a lot", But Caroline & Jennifer are not receptive to his charms
At the police station they find that American dollars are not accepted, so they have to go and change money. For some unexplained reason the police won't let Caroline leave the station so Jennifer has to ask a random passerby if he can go and exchange money for them.
 "This is a big mistake", Jennifer has second thoughts the moment then man drives away with her money
 "I gave him $100 and I'm hoping he's gonna come back. I'm not quite sure", Jennifer has her doubts
But her trust is well placed and after a while he comes back with the money. So after paying their fine and hugging their savior they are on their way again.

 "What's the speed limit? Slow down, 60", Katie (from the back seat)
Unfortunately her warning is not enough so Max get caught in the same speed trap as the girls (going 76km/h).
 "Can we just call this our speed bump and be done with it?", Max
They also have to go to the police station, but seem to have changed money in advance.
 "That was like mayhem in there. It was not a good place to be", Max as he backs out from the Police station, straight into a pole
Fortunately for Max & Katie the car is only dented by the collision with the pole. They can continue on their way.
 "I'm not getting out to look at that", Max just wants this leg to be over

A bit later Max & Katie are relieved when Joey & Meghan turn up behind them.
 "If I get beat by them, then I should be heading home anyway", Max does not have high opinions about team YouTube

Teams reach the clue box in Boro Village in the following order:
 1(+0) Bates & Anthony
 2(+0) Pam & Winnie
 3(+0) Chuck & Wynona
 4(+2) Mona & Beth, around 09:15
 5(+0) Caroline & Jennifer
 6(+1) Max & Katie
 7(-3) Joey & Meghan

Here teams find a road block and a fast forward.

FAST FORWARD

Have some fun on the
waters of the Okavango
Delta!

Make your way to the
riverbank to get started.

Note: Return to your
vehicle and take all of
your belongings...
you...

Bates & Anthony decide to go for the fast forward and follow the signs
to the riverbank. Here they find another sign:

FAST FORWARD

Both of you must
stay up on waterskis
together for over
a mile to win the
fast forward award!

And there is also a sign by the water which warns for crocodiles.
 "I don't know if I can get up", Bates do not know if he can do this
They debate a bit but Anthony decide that his brother can do it and they agree to go for it.
 "Whats the crocodile situation", Bates asks the boat crew
 "Nothing. We checked last night. You're fine.", A crew member
 
 "Getting up was rough. But once I got up I stayed in one position and didn't move a muscle", Bates
 "I can't believe I did it on the first shot", Bates
 "There's a big crocodile right around that bend", The boat driver point out the local wildlife (right after Bates & Anthony have been picked up)

The hockey players succeed with the water skiing task so they win the fast forward and are transported via taxi boat and safari vehicle directly to the pit stop at the Royal Tree Lodge.

 "First time on the whole race we're stress free right now", Bates on his way to the pit stop

Max & Katie also find their speed bump here. They must finish a skirt and then take part in a ceremonial seduction dance. The dance mainly consists of wild booty shaking.
 "That was so fun", Katie seemed to enjoy herself

The other teams can go directly to the road block.

ROAD BLOCK

Who wants to go up a
creek without a paddle?

In this road block teams must transport two baby goats up the creek in a Mokoro. This is a dug out canoe which a lucky contestant must pole up the creek to a nearby goat pen. Once the goats have been delivered they must poole back to where they picked up to canoe. The other team member must also travel in to canoe and can hold the goats.

Pooling the dugout turns out to be quite hard. It does not move in the direction players want and since there are crocodiles in the water they are being very careful.
 "The goat is peeing all over my leg", Pam get to hold the goats

 "I have to go get two goats. I'm nervous as hell", Wynona is not comfortable
 "I put it in the boat, I figured it would just go on up there like a dog", Wynona was not expecting one of her goats to escape
 "Chuck, this is easy for you, it's not easy for me", Wynona quickly tires of the stream of instructions coming from her husband
 "I think I'll move to Venice and become a Gondolier", Winnie see the similarities
 "I feel like I'm living out my childhood on the Amazing Race", Caroline had an active youth
 "Jennifer & Caroline passed us as we were dropping off the goats, and we're not happy about it", Mona realize they suck at the dugout

 "Why is this so difficult", Joey
Joey is having a hard time on the boat so by the time they finish Max & Katie are just a few minutes behind them. It is a tense race as both teams know they are the last two teams.

According to exit interviews the task took about 20 minutes to complete. Teams complete this roadblock in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1(+0)	Pam & Winnie*	(4-4)
2(+0)	Chuck & Wynona*	(5-3)
3(+1)	Caroline* & Jennifer	(5-3)
4(-1)	Mona & Beth*	(4-4)
5(+1)	Joey* & Meghan	(5-3)
6(-1)	Max* & Katie	(5-3)

         

Teams must now travel by Water Taxi down the river. They will then transfer to a safari vehicle which will take them to the Royal Tree Lodge Game Preserve where they'll find their next clue.

There is nothing teams can do to speed up or slow down the transportation to the game preserve so they all arrive in the same order they left Moro Village. At the game preserve they find their next clue in a pouch hanging from a tree.

DETOUR

Detour: 'Brains' or 'Brawn'

Brains: Go on a horseback
safari and search for ten
different species of
"wildlife". Then, at the end
of your safari choose ten
tiles with representations of
the animals you saw and
place them in the order in
which they appear on the
safari.
...

In brains teams are not allowed to write anything down. The track they have to ride is fairly long and takes about one hour to complete. The really tricky part of the task is the last animal cutout which shows a bird sitting on a hippo. The tiles at the end do not include a hippo, only the bird. The tiles do include a rhino, but that is a different animal which was not seen on the track.

 "Honey, you look handsome in your hat up there", Wynona gives positive feedback
 "I don't sing like the country girls, but I'm singing", Wynona makes a song out of the animals they see

In brawn teams must stack firewood on a traditional sand sled. Then, using a carrot dangling from a stick, convince a team of four donkeys to haul it half a mile to a safari camp, where they must unload the sled. This task involves hard work (loading and unloading the sled) as well as the ability to get the donkeys to both start and stop.

The actual donkey pulling is surprisingly exciting to watch. First we have Mona & Beth leaving just after Caroline & Jennifer. Both teams do their best to get their donkeys to move quickly and when the country singers sled get caught in a tree they are overtaken by the derby moms.

 "I'm telling you, it's these two fricking asses in the front", Pam & Winnie have donkeys who won't budge.
After failing to get their donkeys to even move Pam & Winnie decide to switch detours. The ride is much more relaxing, but they miss one animal cutout. So they have to go back and do the course again.
 "We definitely did this much faster the second time around", Pam & Winnie
This time they do it much faster (probably around 40 minutes), but they still missed the ostrich. When they are rejected the second time they decide to go back to their donkeys.

Meanwhile Joey & Meghan and Max & Katie are frantically loading wood. Initially Max & Katie have the lead as the YouTube host's donkeys refuse to move. But when the latter finally get their donkeys to move they get them to move very quickly indeed. But just as they are about to pass Max & Katie their sled get caught in a tree.

When they reach the safari camp Joey & Meghan are right behind Max & Katie.
 "If Meghan & Joey beat us in this brawn task, we should go home like that's embarrassing", Katie think they should beat Meghan & Joey

Max & Katie may find it embarrassing, but there are in fact beaten by Joey & Meghan. Probably because the latter manage to stop their sled a little bit closer to where they need to unload their firewood.

Teams complete the detour in the following order:
 1(+3) Mona & Beth, brawn
 2(+1) Caroline & Jennifer, brawn
 3(-1) Chuck & Wynona, brains
 4(+1) Joey & Meghan, brawn
 5(+1) Max & Katie,brawn less than a minute after #4
 6(-5) Pam & Winnie, started Brawn, switched to Brains, failed twice and returned to Brawn

ROUTE INFO

Make your way on foot to
the next Pit Stop:

Where the river bends!

Warning! The last team
to check in may be
eliminated.

The pit stop is very close to the end of the detours, and is easy to find. Joey & Meghan & Max & Katie are all convinced they are racing for last so Max & Katie do not look happy when they arrive at the mat just after Joey & Meghan. Phil plays a little with them before he tell them they are teams #5 & #6.

Teams reach Phil in the following order:
 1(+0) Bates & Anthony, win $7500 each
 2(+0) Mona & Beth
 3(+0) Caroline & Jennifer, a minute or so behind #2
 4(+0) Chuck & Wynona
 5(+0) Joey & Meghan
 6(+0) Max & Katie
 7(+0) Pam & Winnie, are eliminated

 "We might be eliminated but you can't feel bad after doing this much cool stuff and going to this many cool places", Winnie

Note: fixed pit stop order

[laimis]

Joey & Meghan were 5th not Max & Katie at the pit stop

[maf]

Joey & Meghan were 5th not Max & Katie at the pit stop

OOPS, I have fixed the report.

[maf]

Racing report
Amazing Race Season 22, Episode 8, "My cheese is out of control"
Film date: Nov 28-30  2012

The last pit stop was by the river at the Royal Tree Lodge near Maun, Botswana. The episode claim teams are released from here, but the area looks more to be inside the city.

We are only shown Bates & Anthony starting at 05:55. The first clue tells them to fly to Zurich, Switzerland. Once in Zurich they must find a conductor (in the railway station at the airport) who will give them their next clue. Teams also seem to be told to go to a specific travel agency "TimeTravel".

All teams make the same flight. This is probably:
 4Z8301 MUB-JNB Nov-28 14.00-15.40
 BA56   JNB-LHR Nov-28 20:20-05:07+1
 BA714  LHR-ZRH Nov-29 12:01-14:49 (was 0:49 late)

 "We're having fun, I think, finally", Wynona has started getting the hang of the race

In Zurich there is a mad dash to the conductor. Teams reach her in the following order:
 1. Caroline & Jennifer
 2. Bates & Anthony
 3. Joey & Meghan
 4. Mona & Beth
 5. Max & Katie
 6. Chuck & Wynona

Route info: "Travel by train to the town of Grindelwald". In Grindelwald teams must wait by the church for an alpine shepherd, who will deliver their next clue. All teams get ticket on the same trains. They leave Zurich at 15:40 and change trains in Bern and Interlaken for an arrival in Grindelwald at 18:39.

Joey & Meghan and Mona & Beth miss the connection in Bern, much to the enjoyment of the other teams.

 "At least it's their ulcers not ours", Max is happy he didn't miss the train

It is snowing when teams arrive in Grindelwald. At the Church they find a small sign "The Shepherd will come by at 8:55am to give you your next clue". The next morning all teams are gathered by the church waiting for the shepherd. He arrives on a small two-skied sled and start handing out clues. Teams grab them in the following order:
 1. Chuck & Wynona
 2. Max & Katie
 3. Bates & Anthony
 4. Joey & Meghan
 5. Mona & Beth
 6. Caroline & Jennifer

Route info: "Travel by train to Kleine Scheidegg at the base of the Eiger in the Swiss alps. Pick up a Swiss rescue companion outside the historic Bellevue hotel".

Everybody runs down to the Grindelwald railway station 5 minutes away. Here they find that the next train for Kleine Scheidegg leaves at 09:47. So all teams make it.
 "It's alright, my feet are warm now", Beth is at least warm after the run to the station
 "Chuck's mad because I'm always 12 seconds behind everybody else, I'm last and I can't help it", Wynona is not happy
 "I'm just a disappointment to him, and I hate it", Wynona does not feel appreciated

The train ride up to Kleine Scheidegg is very scenic.
 "It's breathtaking", Beth is mesmerized by the mountains

Kliene Scheidegg is not a big place and the hotel kind of dominates it so it easy to locate the next route marker. The Swiss rescue companion turns out to be a St. Bernhardt dog, complete with a small keg hanging from its neck. Teams get their next clue from the handler of each dog in the following order:
 1. Joey & Meghan
 2. Max & Katie
 3. Mona & Beth
 4. Bates & Anthony
 5. Chuck & Wynona
 6. Caroline & Jennifer

Route info: "Travel by train to the Jungfraujoch and deliver your St. Bernhardt to the mountain rescue team". Teams must now continue up to the highest railway station of Europe (at 3454m). Here they must deliver their rescue dog to a mountain rescue guide outside the station. They must then make their way to the Sphinx observatory at the top of the mountain and search for their next clue.

This means another train ride and another equalization. The only extra factor here is that teams must handle a pretty big dog. The only ones having a problem with this is Caroline & Jennifer, whose dog refuses to board the train. Eventually Anthony comes to the rescue and help convince the dog to cooperate.
 "Come on, good boy or girl whatever you are", Caroline & Jennifer fail to motivate their dog to board the train

More than one team immediately get attached to the dogs and remember their loved canine friends at home.
 "He is treating the dog better than me", Wynona is depressed
 "The dog's gonna run faster", Chuck, hopefully he is joking
 "You'd better enjoy sleeping with the dog tonight", Wynona bites back

At Jungfraujoch teams hustle, as well as their abilities and the dogs will allow, through corridors blasted out of the bedrock. Eventually they get to a door and when it opens they see a wonderful landscape of ice, mountains and snow. There are some mountain guides out in the snow.
 "Pure whiteness and I saw heaven", Joey gets poetic

After delivering the dogs teams take the elevator up to the observatory. The next clue is handed out by a pair of locals on the observation deck. Teams find them in the following order:
 1. Mona & Beth
 2. Bates & Anthony
 3. Max & Katie
 4. Joey & Meghan
 5. Caroline & Jennifer
 6. Chuck & Wynona

Road block: "Who wants to enjoy the sights?". In this road block teams must travel by train down to the Eigerwand station (at 2865m). Here there are observation windows cut into the sheer rock wall of the Eiger. Contestants must exit one window and traverse the mountain to the next. Along the way they must pick up a Travelocity gnome who is hanging from the rock wall. The rock wall they must traverse is almost vertical but there are planks laid out past the worst passages so the actual traversing is not that difficult. The tricky factor is that the valley floor is thousands of feet below, so they must keep their nerves under control.

There are two traverse tracks set up so two teams at a time can do the task. The rest must wait in line for their turn by one of the starting windows.

 "It's kinda high", Bates, can't avoid noticing the height
 "Not looking down yet, and not planning on it", Bates has a strategy
 "No last words, but this is fricking cool", Katie steps out of the window
 "Holy cow, this is absolutely frightening", Max looks out the window and is happy his wife is the one doing this
 
 "In case things go wrong, I won't remarry for the first month", Chuck show some consideration

 "It's kind of scary, but it's really easy. You can do it", Katie describes the task to Wynona
 "I'm not particularly afraid of heights, but I didn't look down because I just wasn't sure what I would see", Beth

Wynona is the only one having trouble. She is having a hard time moving the safety hooks past some of the anchors, probably because she is shorter than the other contestants.

Joey & Meghan got stuck behind Chuck & Wynona. They could probably have finished faster if they had gone for the other climbing station. But it is doubtful that they could have made the first train.

Teams complete this roadblock in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1.	Bates* & Anthony	(4-4)
2.	Max & Katie*	(5-4)
3.	Mona & Beth*	(4-5)
4.	Caroline & Jennifer*	(5-4)
5.	Chuck & Wynona*	(5-4)
6.	Joey & Meghan*	(5-4)

The next clue is on the bottom of the gnome.

travelocity

Travel by train to the Grindelwald Grund station.
Once there, cross the Lütschine Brüggli bridge and
follow the sound of the Swiss Alphorn to your next clue.

Another train means yet another bunching point. But this time not all teams make the same train.

The first train around carries:
 Bates & Anthony
 Max & Katie
 Mona & Beth
 Caroline & Jennifer

The second train carries:
 Chuck & Wynona
 Joey & Meghan

While they are waiting on the next train Chuck lets us know he is disappointed that Wynona took so long on the task. Wynona would rather hear some positive feedback than constant disapproval.
 "Good job. I'm glad you made it, the kids need a mother", When explicitly prompted Chuck gives positive feedback (but his heart is not in it)

Back in Grindelwald teams have no problem finding the alphorn player who gives them their next clue in the following order:
 1. Bates & Anthony
 2. Mona & Beth
 3. Max & Katie
 4. Caroline & Jennifer
 5. Joey & Meghan
 6. Chuck & Wynona

Route info: "Follow the marked path and join the local workforce". Teams will now encounter a switchback. They must each use a traditional sled and transport two 50lb wheels of cheese down a steep slope. At the bottom they must lift the cheese into a barn.

 "As soon as I read the clue about 200lb of cheese and sleds I go: Oh no, I remember this one, and it was hard", Katie has looked at earlier seasons

The first difficulty in this task is getting up the hill. Since this is winter the hill is covered in deep snow, and most contestants don't have shoes which are good for snow. Production has strung a rope along the steepest part, but it is still very hard.
 "This hill isn't a hill, it's like a mountain", Bates & Anthony
 "The cold wasn't the problem. The problem was getting up that hill wearing racing slicks", Max

Since there is only one rope lots of teams get stuck behind Max & Katie who are having problems. The only ones who managed to get up before them were Bates & Anthony.

 "Going up the hill, I was literally crawling on my knees", Wynona
 "I can't do both these sleds and your ass", Chuck can't help her as well

Eventually Chuck has to help Wynona up anyway. He is on all fours, holding their sleds in his hands and pushing Wynona's rear quarters with the top of his head.

The best technique for getting the cheese down seemed to be to load it on the led and then let the sled push yourself down. It is hilarious to see them teams try to get down the hill with any semblance of dignity.
 "My cheese fell off every five steps", Jennifer
 "I'd say Jen was my damsel today", Caroline had to help Jennifer a lot
 "My cheese is out of control", Jennifer gets the title as her cheese falls off the sled for the umpteenth time

The only team doing it differently is Chuck & Wynona who start out the normal way but then change to rolling their cheese.
 "I though it was a little bit easier to roll the cheese", Wynona

Once at the bottom teams get winded when they have to lift their cheese into the barn. Teams complete this task in the following order:
 1(+0) Bates & Anthony
 2(+1) Max & Katie
 3(-1) Mona & Beth, a minute or so after #2
 4(+0) Caroline & Jennifer
 5(+0) Joey & Meghan
 6(+0) Chuck & Wynona

ROUTE INFO

Make your way to the
next Pit Stop:

The Bodmi Snowboard
and Ski School.

Warning! The last team
to check in may be
eliminated.

 "Let's go for a puke", Max is totally spent after lifting the cheese into the barn
 "It's really hard, and I'm not even lying", Katie meet team YouTube as she sprints in search for taxis

The best way to get to the pit stop seems to be to run into town and take a taxi from there.
 "Perfect time for a cow crossing. Are you serious?", Max when their taxi encounters a bovine road block

Joey & Meghan did not find a taxi. Instead they ran and walked the whole way. The distance was approximately 3 miles.
 "We ran and walked this whole way. We should've taken a taxi", Meghan is tired as they near the pit stop

Teams reach Phil and the pit stop in the following order:
 1(+0) Bates & Anthony, win a trip to Bora Bora
 2(+0) Mona & Beth
 3(+0) Max & Katie
 4(+0) Caroline & Jennifer
 -     Chuck & Wynona, receive a 30 minute penalty
 5(+0) Joey & Meghan
 6(+0) Chuck & Wynona, are eliminated

 "We're in last because of me. Because I wasn't quick enough", Meghan is in tears as they arrive last to the pit stop
 "It's not your fault", Joey is not upset at her
 "It's definitely a sad moment coming in last, but I've had a blast", Joey,hasn't learned about Chuck & Wynona's penalty yet

Chuck & Wynona are given a 30 minute penalty since they did not use the approved method, the sled, of transporting the cheese. Instead they rolled theirs. This penalty allows Joey & Meghan to reach the pit stop. So Chuck & Wynona go from being miraculously saved to coming bitterly last.

 "Tough way to go out", Phil to Chuck & Wynona
 "As far as the race goes, it didn't tear us apart, I mean we've got a lot of life and a lot of history behind us", Chuck

[maf]

Racing report
Amazing Race Season 22, Episode 9, "The ultimate fun house"
Film date: Dec 1  2012

The last pit stop was at the Bodmi ski school in Grindelwald, Switzerland. In this episode teams seem to be released in Interlaken (which is the closest bigger city). They are released in the following order:

1.	Bates & Anthony	02:50
2.	Mona & Beth	02:57	(+0:07)
3.	Max & Katie	03:01	(+0:11)
4.	Caroline & Jennifer	03:28	(+0:38)
?.	Joey & Meghan	not shown	(+?)

Route info: "Make your way to the city of Dresden in Germany". Once teams arrive they must make their way to the ministry of finance where they will find waiting cars and their next clue.

 "We're right behind Bates & Anthony, who are like supermen", Mona fears the hockey players
 "They are our race boyfriends", Jennifer about the hockey players

Teams travel by train from Interlaken at 05:26 to Basel with arrival at 07:29. Then they probably fly from Basel to Dresden via Munich on:
 IQ2393 BSL-MUC Dec  1 09:20-10:25
 CL2124 MUC-DRS Dec  1 11:30-12:23

Everybody falls asleep on the train. Bates & Anthony put their bags on the sets right across from themselves, and when Bates wakes up a little bit later his bag (which was by the aisle) is gone.
 "I've got my passport and that's all I really need", Bates is not too worried
 "I'm sorry Bates. Do you need anything? Do you want some thongs? Womens underwear?", Jennifer offers to lend some of her clothes

At the Dresden airport there is the usual mad dash to the taxis. Teams
arrive at the cars by the ministry of finance in the following order:
 1. Max & Katie
 2. Joey & Meghan
 3. Caroline & Jennifer, a few seconds after #2
 4. Bates & Anthony
 5. Mona & Beth, a couple of seconds after #4

The next clue can be found on the windshield of the car. It is a route info: "Answer three questions about your next destination". Teams must enter their cars and use the in-car computer to answer three questions. The questions arrive one by one via text messages and there are pre-defined text messages with the response alternatives. The questions are:
 Q1: Which US president said "Tear down this wall"?
 Q2: Which world leader did president Reagan direct it to?
 Q3: Where did president Reagan say it?

 The response alternatives are:
   1. John F. Kennedy
   2. Ronald Reagan
   3. Bill Clinton
   4. Boris Yeltsin
   5. Nikita Khrushchev
   6. Mikhail Gorbachev
   7. The Brandenburger gate in Berlin
   8. The Hofbräuhaus in Munich
   9. The Kölner Dome in Cologne
  10. THE
 
The correct responses are: Q1-1, Q2-6, Q3-7. When teams have answered all questions correctly they get an SMS: "Congratulations, now drive to the Brandenburger gate to find your next clue".

 "The second we got there and saw all the cars I got a little rush of confidence. We don't need to be in the pack. Today we're going after it", Max wants to lead
 "Was it Roosevelt?", Meghan hasn't found the response alternatives
 "Was that the great wall of China?", Caroline is stumped

 "Bates & Anthony are here. Should we wait?", Jennifer
 "No, just go", Caroline realize that they need to focus on themselves

 "Hopefully we can do well today and come in first and win two Ford Fusions", Katie has noted certain patterns in earlier seasons
 "A stands for 'Aaargh these people are driving really fast'", Beth is not used to driving on the Autobahn

 "I lost the boys", Jennifer tried to follow Bates & Anthony while driving through Berlin

Teams find the clue box by the Brandenburger gate in the following order:
 1(+0) Max & Katie
 2(+0) Joey & Meghan
 3(+2) Mona & Beth
 4(+0) Bates & Anthony, about 30 seconds after #4
 5(-2) Caroline & Jennifer

Route info: "Make your way to the roof of the Park Inn hotel in Alexanderplats for your next clue". At the Park Inn roof teams find out that they have to base-fly. Contestants are strapped into a harness and then  lowered face first by a wire, at close to free-fall speed, 37 stories back to the ground. Both team members must perform this. One nice touch is that the landing mat has a big picture of a clue box on it.

This task is scary, but there is no skill involved. And this late in the game only the determined teams are left so nobody hesitates.

 "Oh my god, what are we doing", Katie is not comfortable
 "This is worse than Bungee-jumping". Jennifer

Teams complete this task in the following order:
 1(+0) Max & Katie
 2(+0) Joey & Meghan
 3(+0) Mona & Beth
 4(+0) Bates & Anthony
 5(+0) Caroline & Jennifer

DETOUR

Detour: 'Train Trials' or 'Font
Follies'

Train Trials: At the Deutsches
Technikmuseum try out train
tracks so that they are all
connected in a circuit. Then,
place a model train on the
tracks. If the train makes it's
way around the circuit without
derailing, the Conductor will
hand you your next clue.

Font Follies: Make your way on
foot through the streets of East
Berlin to Wasserturm Am
Pretzlauer Berg and pick up
two illuminated billboard letters
from a market stand. Then
deliver the letters, on foot, to the
attached address to receive
your next clue

The train trials takes place in the Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin (5.8km 0:11).

In font follies teams must first travel 1.7km on foot to pick up the letters. They must then transport them on foot to the Museum of Letters (1.8km) which is very close to the Park Inn. The letters are blinking and obviously battery powered since they keep blinking while teams carry them. If teams drop and break a letter they must go back and pick up a new one.

Bates & Anthony run into the girls and decide to do font together with them. Caroline is not entirely happy with this because she realizes that they will not have a chance against Bates & Anthony in a foot race.

 "I made a poor decision on this", Caroline realize she picked a hard to carry letter
 "This is really frustrating", Joey when their train derails again

Teams carrying the letters must stop every now and then to ask for directions. During one such stop Anthony's letter 'v' falls over and breaks.
 "We were pretty sure we're the last two teams and now we have to start from scratch", Bates
Bates & Anthony decide to switch detours and jump into a taxi.
 "Busted letter, busted spirit. We could be in serious trouble", Bates thinks they are last

"Patience is not our strong suit", Anthony about the train task

Teams complete the detour in the following order:
 1(+0) Max & Katie, font (b & O)
 2(+1) Mona & Beth, font (u & n)
 3(-1) Joey & Meghan, train (on their 7th try)
 4(+1) Caroline & Jennifer, font (s & k)
 5(-1) Bates & Anthony, started font (r & v) but switched to train (which they completed on their 9th try)

ROUTE INFO

Drive yourselves to the
Salon Zur Wilden Renate
and search for the
entrance to the Peristal
Singum to find your next
clue.

 "This place, it was like a trippy end of the communist era shady little place", Max found the saloon a suspect place

Mona & Beth have major issues navigating to the salon.
 "This city layout is way to fricking crazy", Mona as trouble reading the map

And Bates & Anthony are dead last, and they know it.
 "I can't see us coming back from this one", Anthony think they are dead last after the detour
 "We need a miracle again", Bates

But the miracle is coming in the form of the roller derby moms navigational issues.
 "I think we should go to the Hostel. They're used to helping idiots", Beth decides to ask for help
 "I felt like at one point I was gonna start to cry. But it never occurred to us to quit", Beth never considered giving up

Teams reach the clue at the salon in the following order:
 1(+0) Max & Katie
 2(+1) Joey & Meghan
 3(+1) Caroline & Jennifer
 4(-2) Mona & Beth
 5(+0) Bates & Anthony, a minuter after #4

ROAD BLOCK

Who wants to go
trippin?

The extra info reads:

ROAD BLOCK

Make your way into the
Peristal Singum and
search for your next clue.

To gain entrance, tell the
Doorman who famously
said "Ich bin ein
Berliner".

In this road block teams must first figure out that JF Kennedy famously stated that he was a jelly donut. They must then search a theatrical labyrinth and find the white room This is where their next clue awaits.

The maze is very psychedelic with lots of weird exhibits and designs. There are ladders to climb and doors to find. It is of course very dark.

 "The honeymoon continues, here at the underground German speakeasy", Max is not entirely comfortable
 "Oh my god, this is freaky", Katie upon entering the maze
 "I walk in and it is pitch black. And I'm thinking to myself somebody's gonna jump out and they're gonna get hurt because I just gonna punch them", Katie goes into survival mode
 "It was a nightmare", Katie
 "Oh my gosh, this is soo cool", Joey enters the maze
 "So many doors leading everywhere", after a while Joey starts getting frustrated
 "It was the ultimate fun house", Joey gets the title after completing the road block

 "It was probably what it is like to do drugs", Jennifer

Anthony catches up with Beth in the maze, and they decide to work together.

Teams complete this roadblock in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1(+0)	Max & Katie*	(5-5)
2(+0)	Joey* & Meghan	(6-4)
3(+0)	Caroline & Jennifer*	(5-5)
4(+1)	Bates & Anthony*	(4-5)
5(-1)	Mona & Beth*	(4-6)	A second after #4

The next route info tells teams to make their way to the Kurfürstendamm and find the next pit stop.

 "Should we just follow them and beat them in a race?", Anthony wants to follow Mona & Beth

The boys decide to just follow Mona & Beth in their car.
 "If we get there at the same time, we will definitely beat them in a race", Anthony has a strategy
 "The boys are hot on our tails", Beth realize what their plan is

As they reach Kurfürstendamm both teams hustle out of their cars and run for Phil. But it is no contest, the boys are faster out of their car and reach Phil a couple of seconds before the moms.

The greeter in this episode is a hot dog salesman who has his entire kitchen strapped to his body, including an umbrella. Teams reach the pit stop in the following order:
 1(+0) Max & Katie, around 20:03, win one car each
 2(+0) Joey & Meghan, around 20:53
 3(+0) Caroline & Jennifer
 4(+0) Bates & Anthony, around 22:20
 5(+0) Mona & Beth, are saved by a non-elimination

 "I think we did pretty good for a couple of moms", Beth
 "You guys make us nervous, that's for sure", Anthony has respect for the moms

[maf]

Racing report
Amazing Race Season 22, Episode 10, "Working our barrels off"
Film date: Dec 3  2012

Teams are released from hotel InterContinental in Berlin in the following order:

1.	Max & Katie	02:02
2.	Joey & Meghan	02:49	(+0:47)
3.	Caroline & Jennifer	03:44	(+1:42)
4.	Bates & Anthony	04:20	(+2:18)
5.	Mona & Beth	04:21	(+2:19)

Route info: "Fly to the city of Edinburgh, Scotland". As teams land they must pick up a sponsor car from the airport and drive themselves to Gosford house where they'll get their next clue. The clue also warns that there is an U-turn ahead.

Joey & Meghan are worried about the U-turn. They know that Bates & Anthony, Max & Katie and Caroline & Jennifer have an alliance. And it sucked getting U-turned the last time. So they vow to do their best to stay ahead.

Max & Katie go directly to the hotel business center and book flights on the web. They find a flight which arrives at 10:40. All the other teams make their way to the airport where they are patiently standing in line by the Lufthansa desk as it opens at 05:00.

 "We're thinking that everybody is in line wanting to get in at 1'o clock", Max keeps quiet about their flight when he see where teams are lining up
 "We're going to wait in line like sheep over there and act like sheep", Max pretends to follow the other teams

Joey & Meghan are first in line, and Mona & Beth go to the 1st class counter and those two teams are the only ones getting tickets with arrival at 13:00. The other teams get told that the flight is full and get tickets with arrival at 16:00.

Joey & Meghan and Mona & Beth are very excited when they learn that they will have a three hour lead.
 "Think of what we can do", Joey can't contain his excitement

 "Meghan & Joey can't U-turn, but it's definitely a worry with the roller girls", Jennifer is worried

Meanwhile Caroline & Jennifer and Bates & Anthony hunt around for other flights. And both teams stumble upon Brussels airlines which have a flight with arrival at 10:40. When they board they are surprised to see Max & Katie on the same flight.
 "Are you joking, the sexy six are together forever", Caroline upon meeting Max & Katie on the flight

So in the end teams end up on two different sets of flights:

The first flights are:
 SN2592 TXL-BRU Dec-3 06:58-08:15
 BM1628 BRU-EDI Dec-3 09:55-10:40
This flight carries:
 Max & Katie
 Bates & Anthony
 Caroline & Jennifer

The second route is:
 LH177 TXL-FRA Dec-3 08:51-10:09
 LH962 FRA-EDI Dec-3 12:11-13:13 (landed 0:13 late)
This flight carries:
 Joey & Meghan
 Mona & Beth

When teams land they all run to the cars. Everybody counts the number of cars so they know their position.
 "I feel good, basically we're in first", Meghan hasn't reached the cars yet
 "There's only two cars here!", Mona is unpleasantly surprised

Teams drive out of the airport in the following order:
 1. Max & Katie
 2. Bates & Anthony
 3. Caroline & Jennifer
 4. Mona & Beth
 5. Joey & Meghan

In the car Bates explains that the first three teams have agreed to U-turn the last two teams so they can battle it out. Meanwhile Caroline is having problem with her car, it just won't accelerate.
 "Is there a brake on?", Eventually Caroline find the problem

At Gosford house (27km 0:30) the clue box is at the foot of the grand staircase leading up to the entrance. And on the stairs is the Royal Scots bagpipers arrayed. This makes for a very impressive entrance.

Teams reach the clue box here in the following order:
 1(+0) Max & Katie
 2(+0) Bates & Anthony, about a minute after #1
 3(+0) Caroline & Jennifer, a few minutes after #2
 4(+0) Mona & Beth
 5(+0) Joey & Meghan, a minuter or so after #4

ROAD BLOCK

Who has the deep lungs
and strong legs of a
Royal Scot?

Note: Mona and Meghan
must perform this Road
Block.

Contestants must dress like the Royal Scots, including a kilt, and learn how to play the bagpipes. They must then hold a single harmonizing note for two minutes as they march around the marble room of Gosford house.

 "I'm hal'f Scottish, so hopefully this will work out for me", Bates feels he is natural for this
 "I'm getting used to the whole skirt thing. What I wore under the Kilt will forever remain a secret", Max

 "The more practice I made the more time i was wasting. Just learn by fire and go for it", Max

 "She's a singer, she knows how to blow", Jennifer about Caroline
 "I'm so sorry, but my mouth isn't working now", Caroline after her 6th attempt

 "I have found my husband in Scotland. His name is Jim, I think he's 70. If he hadn't been there along with my best friend Jen I don't know if I would have made it through the day", Caroline had a hard time

 "I can totally do this. This is easy", Meghan is sure of herself going into this task
 "It takes a lot of hot air, which she has", Beth thinks Mona is uniquely suited to playing bagpipes
 "It sounded like they were torturing an animal", Beth about Mona's bagpipe playing

 "I'm not meant to be a bagpiper", Meghan struggles after Mona has left

Teams complete this roadblock in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1(+0)	Max* & Katie	(6-5)	On his 1st shown attempt
2(+0)	Bates* & Anthony	(5-5)	On his 1st shown attempt
3(+0)	Caroline* & Jennifer	(6-5)	On her 7th attempt
4(+0)	Mona* & Beth	(5-6)	On her 2nd shown attempt
5(+0)	Joey & Meghan*	(6-5)	On her 1st shown attempt

Meghan struggled a lot with the training before her instructor allowed her to try the real challenge, so they are about 30 minutes after Mona & Beth as they leave.

ROUTE INFO

Search the fireplaces at
Craigmillar Castle for
your next clue.

Craigmillar castle (19.7km 0:20) is a large ruin with lots of fireplaces. Teams reach it
in the following order:
 1(+1) Bates & Anthony
 2(-1) Max & Katie, after #1 has left
 3(+0) Caroline & Jennifer
 4(+0) Mona & Beth
 5(+0) Joey & Meghan, just as Mona & Beth return from their speed bump

As teams enter the castle they pass the speed bump sign. That is all teams but Mona & Beth who have to open it. They learn that the speed bumps means that they have to play Skittles. This takes place in the cellar of the Sheep Heid Inn in Duddingston village (2.6km 0:04). Skittles is a Scottish variant of 10-pin bowling where the ball has no holes. They must take turns to roll the ball until one of them scores a floor (a strike). Since this place is very old there is no mechanics, so after each throw they must run down to the end of the lane and manually reset the pins.
 "Sucks to be you", Max when he passes the speed bump sign

This task is rather hard, but on the 16th try Beth finally scores a strike and they can go back to the castle and search for clues in the fireplaces.

The clues are placed in the chimneys so teams have to enter the, rather large, fireplaces to search. They are also spread out so no two clues are in the same place. Teams find clues and leave the castle in the same order they arrived.

DETOUR

Detour: Tasty Puddin' or
Whisky Rollin'

Tasty Puddin': At the Sheep
Heid Inn Pub in Duddingston
Village, perform the final
preparation of the Scottish
national dish, Haggis. Once
each of you have prepared four
portions of Haggis and enjoyed
a bit of this tasty treat, you'll
receive your next clue.

Whisky Rolli': Deliver eight
large barrels of Scotland's
national drink, Scotch whisky,
from the loading area through
the steep, cobblestone streets
of Duddingston Village to the
Whisky Festival grounds to
receive your next clue.

Caution: U-Turn ahead!

Max assumes that Bates & Anthony are doing the barrel rolling so he and Katie goes for pudding to separate themselves from them.

Bates & Anthony find the rolling hard so they carry their barrels on their back. This is very heavy, even though the barrels seem to be empty. It is also allowed since the additional info just stated that they must transport the barrels by their own power without any help.
 "How is anybody else gonna do this challenge?", Anthony

 "They're having great old time dancing around while we are working our barrels off", Bates gets the title
 "The meat smelled good. But the stomach, I could smell that sheep's last meal", Max
 "I feel like the Greek god holding up the world", Bates about carrying Whisky barrels

As teams make their Haggis an actor dressed as Robert Burns, an 18th century Scottish poet, steps in. He starts to recite "Address to a Haggis" in a wonderful Scottish accent. This adds loads of local color to the scene which, due to the pub setting, already had lots of it.

Mona & Beth start their Haggis making at 16:55. Mona & Beth and Joey & Meghan know they are fighting for last as they enter the pub more or less together.

 "I still don't know what Haggis is, and I don't want to know", Joey
 "You lasses look like you've done this before", The poet to Mona & Beth
 "They're moms, they cook. I know how to cook chicken", Joey thinks Mona & Beth have an unfair advantage
 "Aw, real good", Beth to the judge as they taste
 "Sorry Scotland, it was awful", Beth in an interview later

Mona & Beth seem to just kill this detour and leave well before Joey & Meghan. Both teams know that the U-turn may determine this race. So even though they are last at the detour Joey & Meghan have a samll hope that the moms have been U-turned and they have not. Unfortunately that hope is crushed on the cold hard stones of reality as they reach the church and see that both the last two teams have been U-turned.

 "This is brutal", Beth about the Whisky barrels
 "Don't let 'em see us", The moms try to roll their barrels stealthily past the pub
 "Oh, they got U-turned. The moms got U-turned", But Joey see them and gets some hope
 "I smell like Haggis and sweat", Beth

Unfortunately for Joey & Meghan, Mona & Beth are faster. The moms are delivering their 3rd and 4th barrel as team Youtube starts. And when the moms are done Youtube have only delivered three barrels.

Teams complete the detour in the following order:
 1(+0) Bates & Anthony, whisky
 2(+0) Max & Katie, pudding
 3(+0) Caroline & Jennifer, pudding
 4(+0) Mona & Beth, pudding and whisky
 5(+0) Joey & Meghan, pudding and whisky

ROUTE INFO

Make your way to
Duddingston Kirk to find
your next clue.

The Duddingston kirk is not far away, and here teams find a double U-turn. They reach it in the following order:
 1(+0) Bates & Anthony, U-turns Joey & Meghan
 2(+0) Max & Katie, U-turns Mona & Beth
 3(+0) Caroline & Jennifer
 4(+0) Mona & Beth
 5(+0) Joey & Meghan

ROUTE INFO

Search Niddry Street
South in Old Town
Edinburgh for the next
Pit Stop.

Warning! The last team
to check-in may be
eliminated.

Teams must now drive to Edinburgh and find the designated parking space before making their way on foot to the pit stop.
 "Now I'm all fricking turned around", Bates have trouble navigating in Edinburgh.
 "Parking area is probably on your right hand side", Katie is however spot on
 "I think we should follow them ,beat them at a race", Anthony see Max & Katie run away from the parking area as he pulls in

 "And Haggis", Max jumps onto the mat

The editors tries their best to make it look like a tense race between Mona & Beth and Joey & Meghan. Therefore we get to see lots of shots of the moms having trouble navigating while Joey & Meghan just seem to get there straight away.

The pit stop greeter on this leg is an actor dressed up as Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Teams reach him and Phil in the following order:
 1(+1) Max & Katie, $10.000 each
 2(-1) Bates & Anthony
 3(+0) Caroline & Jennifer
 4(+0) Mona & Beth
 5(+0) Joey & Meghan, are eliminated

 "That eyebrow always gets me", Katie when Phil raises his eyebrow
 "I'm so proud of us. We made it a lot farther than I thought we were going to", Joey

[maf]

Racing report
Amazing Race Season 22, Episode 11.1, "Beacon of hope"
Film date: Dec 4-5  2012

This report covers the first half of the finale episode.

Teams are released from some street in Edinburgh in the following order:

1.	Max & Katie	16:07
4.	Bates & Anthony	16:15	(+0:08)
3.	Caroline & Jennifer	17:27	(+1:20)
5.	Mona & Beth	19:27	(+3:20)

Route info: "Travel to the capitol of northern Ireland, Belfast". To get there teams must first take the train to Stanraer (via Glasgow). From here they take a ferry to Belfast. Once in Belfast they must pick up a sponsor car from a harbor warehouse (All-route shipping) and drive themselves to Peatlands Park.

 "We definitely think the roller moms have to go, I think they are one of our strongest competitors", Anthony
 "I really think we got this far because Jen and I have so much positive energy", Caroline
 "We are close friends, but our whole relationship is centered around competition", Mona thinks this gives them and edge

The first 3 teams probably arrived at the ferry terminal i Stanraer around 21:00, and learn that the next ferry is at 07:30 in the morning. This gives the roller derby moms plenty of time to catch up (they probably arrive around midnight).

The ferry reaches Belfast at 09:45. While on the ferry all teams get directions to Peatlands park.

 "We're just trying to get as much information as we can on Belfast", Max on the boat

Once in Belfast all teams run for the warehouse where their cars are. They reach it a few seconds apart, enter their cars and drive out in the following order:
 1. Mona & Beth
 2. Max & Katie
 3. Bates & Anthony
 4. Caroline & Jennifer

 "You're a navigating machine Katie", Max appreciates the good directions he is given

Teams drive more or less together on the freeway, but once off it they are separated as they all search for the Peatlands Park.
 "Max & Katie and the hockey players are going to the right, and rollergirls and us are going to the left", Jennifer
 "Darn, darn, darn, darn", Mona when she finds out they went the wrong way

The clues at Peatlands Park lie in a basket marked with a race
flag. Teams reach it in the following order:
 1(+2) Bates & Anthony
 2(+0) Max & Katie, a second after #1
 3(-2) Mona & Beth, probably 2-3 minutes after #1
 4(+0) Caroline & Jennifer

Road block: "Who wants to get bogged down?". In this road block contestants must snorkel in the murky waters of the bog. There is a small train which will take them out into the bogs where they will be equipped with a wet suit, mask, snorkel and flippers. They must then cannonball into a pit of mud, climb up and then swim 100 yards in a muddy ditch (50 yards out and 50 yards back). All in under 4 minutes.

This "sport" was of course conceived over a few pints of beer.

A rule on this race is that nobody may perform more than 6 road blocks before the finale. This means that Bates & Anthony is the only team who may choose who will do this task, this since they skipped one task in Botswana thanks to the fast forward.

The task is a lot harder than it sounds. Just putting on the wet suit is a challenge in itself. Then, since this is early December, the temperature is a bit on the chilly side. In fact there are remnants of an ice sheet at the edge of the ditch they swim in. The mud clogs the snorkel and the mask fogs up almost immediately so visibility is close to zero.

 "I'm going snorkeling in freezing cold water", Katie is not looking forward to the task

 "What is Bog snorkeling, do you have any idea?", Mona wonder what the task will be while they wait for the train with Caroline & Jennifer
 "They're not gonna make us get into the water, right?", Jennifer is a little worried

 "Two things that I hate are being cold and in dirty water", Mona is also not looking forward to this
 "I was lucky I made it since there was no chance I was going to do that again", Katie did not enjoy this experience
 "I don't know that I've ever been that scared, I felt a lot of pressure", Mona is anxious before starting the task

Poor Jennifer is having a hard time. She forgot to turn back at the platform at the end of the ditch, instead she climb over it and jump into the ditch on the other side. It takes a while for her to get her bearings and free herself of the mud to go back. This makes her fail the time limit so she has to start all over again.

 "Jen did a great job, but Jen can not really swim", Caroline
 "I can't do it again", Jennifer is mentally and physically exhausted after her failed attempt

On her second go Jennifer gives up before she has even completed half of the swimming.
 "I can't breathe", Jennifer

It takes quite some persuasion from Caroline to get Jennifer to make another attempt. On which she completes the course before the time runs out.

Teams complete this roadblock in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1(+0)	Bates & Anthony*	(5-6)	Time: 02:18
2(+0)	Max & Katie*	(6-6)	Time: 03:09
3(+0)	Mona* & Beth	(6-6)	Time: 02:53
4(+0)	Caroline & Jennifer*	(6-6)	Time: 03:43, on her 3rd attempt

ROUTE INFO

Drive back to Belfast and
find 'The Thing With A
Ring'.

The thing with a ring is a big steel statue also known as 'Beacon of hope' and it is fairly well known. Mona & Beth catch up with Max & Katie in the parking lot as the latter are getting directions. The moms decide to just follow Max & Katie to the next route marker.
 "I hate being followed", Max

The only team having a hard time finding this route marker is Caroline & Jennifer they get directions to the Giant's ring which lies 5km south of Belfast. But eventually they get good directions.

 "We need a beacon of hope right now", Jennifer gets the title

Teams reach the clue box by the statue in the following order:
 1(+1) Max & Katie
 2(+1) Mona & Beth
 3(-2) Bates & Anthony
 4(+0) Caroline & Jennifer

DETOUR

Detour: 'Tray It or Spray It'

Tray It: Become fine-dining
servers! Make your way to the
dry dock where the Titanic
was build over 100 years ago.
Once there, deliver five
courses from the last dinner
served to the Titanic's first
class passengers. When all
five courses have been
served correctly, and in the
proper order, the Captain will
hand you your next clue.

Spray It: Become graffiti
...

At the Titanic dock teams encounter a tent with a menu on a poster outside. The menu is:

           R.M.S. "TITANIC"
            April 14, 1912

        The First-Class Menu
              PRIVATE

      First Course ~ Hors d'oevres
            Oysters à la Russe

        Second Course ~ Soup
Cream of Barley finished with Whiskey and Cream
                 or
Consommé Olga with Scallops and Celery Julienne

         Third Course ~ Roast
      Roasted Squab and Watercress
        served with a Madeira Jus

        Fourth Course ~ Salad
Seared Asparagus drizzled with a Saffron
     and Champagne Vinaigrette

      Fifth Course ~ Dessert
Spiced Peaches with Chartreuse Jelly and
         Crème Fraîche
              or
  Waldorf Pudding with Crème Anglaise

This is half the actual first class menu served as the last meal on the Titanic.

Below the menu is a bunch of seating charts, one for each table. These lists the names of the passengers at the table as well as their choices for the soup and the dessert. This throws a number of teams who immediately start to serve what is on the seating chart and bypassing the other courses. Another difficulty is that there are lots of different courses on the tables in the kitchen tent, and none of them are labeled so teams must identify the correct course by looking at them.

The hardest course to identify is the peaches with Chartreuse Jelly. The chefs have prepared to different dishes with peaches and jelly. One with red jelly and one with green. Chartreuse is a kind of green color, something which only Mona & Beth seem to know.

Teams divide the job so that one team member prepares the tray in the kitchen tent and carries to the top of the stairs. The other member picks it up here, walks down all the stairs to the bottom of the dock and then over to the dining tent set up in the middle of the dock where the tables are set up. It means quite a lot of running/walking for the teams.

Max & Katie is the first team to arrive and prepare a tray with the different soups. But before they leave Katie realizes that something must be wrong. She looks around and find the menu poster and realize they must server oysters first.

Bates & Anthony also figure out the menu pretty quick, but they do one wrong run with the soups first. Mona & Beth make many attempts before they finally figure out what they are doing wrong.

 "This is not what these people ordered", The waiter gets to say this a lot to Beth
 "I used to be a waitress so you'd think I'd be better at this", Beth apologizes for he bad serving skills (and she still is still serving the wrong course)
 "If I don't win this challenge I hope I get tipped well", Bates hopes to get something out of the serving
 "I think what is going on is that we're just intermixing our dishes", Mona thinks she knows what they do wrong, but in reality they aren't reading the menu
 "He's just having a meltdown right now, and there is no calming him down unless I get it right", Anthony feels the pressure
 "I'm gonna kill him", Bates gets frustrated when his next serving is also rejected (he had red jelly)

As Anthony is waiting to see if Bates is going to kill him or not (i.e. checking if the desserts are correct) he chats with Beth and happens to mention the list of courses. Luckily for him the desserts were right so they get their next clue. This leaves Mona & Beth alone trying to figure out which the first course they should serve is.

 "I'm so tired", Beth is rejected for the 10th time
 "Anthony said something about a list", Beth shouts to Mona
 "Bettie, I figured it out", Mona finally see the big menu

And this time the courses served are correct. And Beth gets an applause from the dining guests when she has served it. From this point on it is plain sailing for the moms.
 "We are probably in trouble, but all we can do is try to finish this challenge and get our next clue", Mona is not giving up

In spray it teams must complete a graffiti painting. They must drive to the T13 skate hall. Here they are given an almost blank door where they should spray paint one half of a given Graffiti painting from a given photograph. There is a simple outline on the door which helps with scaling and placement. Once they are done the other half of the painting is revealed and we get to see how well their half matches. All of this takes time. But Caroline & Jennifer, who is the only team doing this, feel like they are flying through it.

Once Caroline & Jennifer say they are done the artist closes the other door so we get to see the entire painting. He then points out some things which the girls need to improve on their half. They do this quickly and are then given their next clue.

Teams complete the detour in the following order:
 1(+0) Max & Katie, tray it
 2(+1) Bates & Anthony, tray it
 3(-1) Mona & Beth, tray it
 4(+0) Caroline & Jennifer, spray it

Route info: "Make your way to the next Pit Stop, Ulster Hall". Here Phil waits together with a bunch of young Riverdance girls.

Max & Katie find parking and are making their way on foot towards the hall as Bates & Anthony drive by. The brothers are convinced they can catch Max & Katie, they just have to find a parking spot first. Max & Katie in turn see that the hockey brothers drive by and realize they must hustle. They make it look like the start of a 100 meter event when they take off. Luckily for them they manage to keep ahead of the brothers so they reach Phil first.

The editors cut the episode so it looks like there is a tense race between the last two teams. But the feeling I get is that the country singers are way behind.

Teams check in in the following order:
 1(+0) Max & Katie, win a trip to the Dominican republic
 2(+0) Bates & Anthony, less than a minuter after #1
 3(+0) Mona & Beth
 4(+0) Caroline & Jennifer, around 17:45, are eliminated

 "You are joking?", Mona can't believe it when Phil tells them they are 3rd
 "People are just so good, all around the world", Jennifer has learned something

[apskip]

maf,

I have not had the opportunity to provide you with some corrections for the Belfast episode directly, but at the Bog Swim ROADBLOCK Jennifer actually failed a second time before taking a long additional time to make her successful 3rd try.

From the Extra Videos, Mona and Beth actually tried Spray It before switching to Tray It.

[Jobby]

maf, thanks for episode 11 recap! Can't wait for the finale one!

[maf]

I have not had the opportunity to provide you with some corrections for the Belfast episode directly, but at the Bog Swim ROADBLOCK Jennifer actually failed a second time before taking a long additional time to make her successful 3rd try.

That's already in the report:

On her second go Jennifer gives up before she has even completed half of the swimming.

From the Extra Videos, Mona and Beth actually tried Spray It before switching to Tray It.

Unfortunately I didn't get to see those, and now they are marked private.

    /MaF

PS Sorry for the delay in posting the last reports. Life has been busy lately.

[maf]

Racing report
Amazing Race Season 22, Episode 11.2 "Beacon of hope"
Film date: Dec 6-7  2012

This is the second part of the finale episode

The last pit stop was in Ulster Hall, Belfast. And this is also where teams are released the next morning in the following order:

1.	Max & Katie	05:04
2.	Bates & Anthony	05:05	(+0:01)
3.	Mona & Beth	05:47	(+0:43)

Route info: "Make your way to the final destination. To find our where it ts, travel by ferry across the Irish sea to Liverpool". Once in Liverpool teams must take a train to London and find the Euston Tap bar and order a pint to receive their next clue.

Teams jump into taxis and make their way to the ferry terminal. Here they find that the first ferry departs at 10:30, which means all teams make it. The ferry ride takes 8 hours so they arrive in Liverpool at 18:30. The ferry ride is a nice break from the normal hustle of the race. Everybody is friendly since there isn't anything they can do to get there faster.

 "Everybody is very friendly right now, but when we get off this ferry we know it's going to be another foot race from then on out", Beth
 "It's like the calm before the storm", Max

In Liverpool teams probably try to catch the 18:48 train to London Euston which arrives at 21:02. Two teams make it. Bates & Anthony seem to miss it and probably took the next train 19:48 with arrival 22:09.

In London teams reach the Euston Tap bar in the following order:
 1. Mona & Beth
 2. Max & Katie, a second later
 3. Bates & Anthony, about an hour later

Route info: "Fly to your final destination, our nations capitol Washington D.C.". Once teams land they must make their way to where Martin Luther King Jr gave his "I have a dream..." speech. They have to figure out by themselves that this is on the steps of the Lincoln memorial. Nobody seems to have any problems with this.

 "Shall we go and finish our beer?", Max after having read the clue
 "No", But Katie wants to keep racing full speed

The flight to Washington is pre-determined, as it has been in all recent seasons. The flight is probably:
 UA923 LHR-IAD Dec-7 07:30-10:42

At the airport teams make their way to the marked ticket counter and wait for it to open. This means a night at the airport since the first team arrives at 23:30 and the counter opens at 05:15.

When tams arrive at Dulles they jump into taxis and make their way for
the Lincoln memorial. They reach it in the following order:
 1. Max & Katie
 2. Mona & Beth, less than a minute after #1
 3. Bates & Anthony, less than a minute after #2

As teams stand on the marked spot a man steps forward and explains what the spot means before he hands them their next clue.

ROUTE INFO

Make your way to 1100
Pennsylvania Avenue.
Once there, a Secret
Service agent will escort
you to have your picture
taken with the President
of the United States -
Barack Obama.

And while you may not
personally agree with
President Obama's
policies, please be
respectful of the office he
holds. Decorum must be
observed at all times!

The additional information also allegedly includes a list of rules on how to behave. In reality this is a cruel joke. Teams will be escorted to a tacky tourist shop where their picture will be taken and digitally inserted into a photo with the president.

 "I'm a pretty big republican", but Max wows to respect the office and behave

The moms get a bit too excited and ask their driver to take them to 1100 Pennsylvania, the White House. Once at the White house they don't find any race markers and eventually they realize they are in the wrong place (the White House is at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue).

The hockey players also ask to be taken to the White House, but once in the cab they point out that they need to go to 1100, not 1600.

Teams arrive at the secret service agents in the following order:
 1(+0) Max & Katie
 2(+1) Bates & Anthony
 3(-1) Mona & Beth

 "Ah man, I thought it was real", Katie is disappointed

Once teams receive their pictures they turn them over and find their next clue.

Find the marked car near the paddleboat
dock at the Tidal Basin. Knock on the rear
passenger window three times and you will
receive a briefcase with your next clue.

Teams reach the marked car by the Tidal Basin in the following order:
 1(+0) Max & Katie
 2(+0) Bates & Anthony, a minute or so after #1
 3(+0) Mona & Beth, as team #1 leaves

The briefcase contains a roadblock clue: "Who's ready for some covert ops?". The extra info reads:

ROAD BLOCK

Search for a "spy" carrying
a briefcase identical to
yours. Use this password:

"The cherry blossoms are
beautiful here in April."

If you have found the right
spy, they will respond with:

"I will have to bring my
mother next spring."

They will exchange their
briefcase for yours, along
with the "key" to open it.
Then return to your partner
and open the briefcase.

This task is a switchback from season 8.

There are 50 "spies" walking around the Tidal Basin. Each conspicuously dressed in a black coat and sunglasses. Each team has a unique set of passwords. This means that there is exactly one correct agent out there for each team.

The "key" top opening the briefcase is: "The key to opening the briefcase is in the order you finished in New Zealand, Indonesia and Vietnam". It seems to be the same for each team.

This task is almost completely luck based. There is a small amount of skill in that teams must remember their positions in three legs. They are  allowed to use their notes, which all remaining teams had taken, so the memory part of this task is very easy.

Max & Katie get the password "Where can I get a good half-smoked with chili?". The expected response is "I've heard there's a great place on U Street".

Bates & Anthony get the password "I did not dress warm enough for this weather". The expected response is "Perhaps you'd like to borrow by gloves".

Mona & Beth get the password "The cherry blossoms are beautiful here in April." The expected response is "I will have to bring my mother next spring."

 "He'd better be running his butt off", Katie wants Max to hurry (and he is hurrying)
 "I could kiss you on the lips right now", Beth is very relieved when she finally finds the right agent

Teams complete this roadblock in the following order (* denotes team member doing the roadblock)

1(+1)	Bates* & Anthony	(6-6)
2(+1)	Mona & Beth*	(6-7)
3(-2)	Max* & Katie	(7-6)	A couple of seconds after #2

Route info: "Make your way to the home of the Nats". Teams must now make their way to the National stadium where the next clue sits in a clue box by an entrance.

 "Oh, we ran right by it, once again par for the course", Mona & Beth have trouble finding the clue box again

Teams reach the clue box at the entrance of the stadium in the following order:
 1(+0) Bates & Anthony
 2(+1) Max & Katie
 3(-1) Mona & Beth

Play Ball!

In a high-flying game of
catch, soar like an eagle
across the home field of
the Washington
Nationals and throw a
baseball to your partner
on the diamond below.

Once you have caught
the ball from your
partner, toss it to the
pitcher on the mound,
he will pitch to the
batter at home plate,
who will then hit it into
the outfield. Retrieve that
ball for your next clue.

One team member will be suspended in a zip line above the field. The other will be dressed as a giant baseball. The flying team member must then throw a baseball to their partner on the ground, who must catch it. If they drop the ball, or miss it completely, they must reset and try again.

The soaring team members are: Anthony, Katie and Mona

Catching the baseball is a lot harder than it sounds. The costume is unwieldy and the helmet they wear limits their field of vision a lot. Luckily for teams the reset is fairly quick. They just use a rope to drag back the zip line partner and they are good to go again.

 "Oh my god, you suck at baseball", Katie when Max misses yet again
 "This is so cool. I'm on the Nationals field, in the most ridiculous outfit on the planet", Beth

The hockey brothers seem to complete this task pretty quickly on their second shown attempt. Max & Katie struggles a little and Mona & Beth struggles a lot. The latter finally catches the ball on the 17th attempt.

Teams complete this task in he following order:
 1(+0) Bates & Anthony, before #2 has even arrived
 2(+0) Max & Katie, just as #3 is about to start the task
 3(+0) Mona & Beth

The next destination "Hains Point" is written on the baseball.

Teams reach Hains Point in the following order:
 1(+0) Bates & Anthony
 2(+0) Max & Katie
 3(+0) Mona & Beth

Route info: "You made your way around the globe. Where did you go?". The setup for this task is one big ball pit which contains about 1500 inflated earth globes. Most globes have one specific country highlighted in red. The task is to find globes with the 10 countries they have visited and place them in the correct order. Once they have done this another globe will open and reveal their next clue.

 "It was like I was 10 years old again", Anthony has memories of ball pits
 "If we had to find these countries before this race, there's no way", Bates has learned something on the race
 "Well, this is a frigging nightmare", Katie has just jumped into the ball pit

The editing makes it seem as if Mona & Beth arrive just after Max & Katie. But it feels like Max & Katie had been there for a while. In any case Max & Katie complete the task way ahead of the moms.

Team complete this task in the following order:
 1(+0) Bates & Anthony, before #2 even has arrived
 2(+0) Max & Katie
 3(+0) Mona & Beth

ROUTE INFO

This is it! The finish line!

Make your way to the
home of the first
President!

Go! Go! Go!

The first president was of course Washington and he lived at Mt Vernon. This is a well known fact and all cab drivers seem to know this.

 "I honestly can't even talk right now 'cause I'm so nervous that we're not going to the right place", Bates can smell the finish line
 "The rest of my hair may fall off or turn gray in the next five minutes", Bates again

Teams reach Phil and the finish line in the following order:
 1(+0) Bates & Anthony, win the $1,000,000
 2(+0) Max & Katie
 3(+0) Mona & Beth

 "Bates & Anthony, 5 continents, 10 countries and more than 30,000 miles", Phil
 "We're still married and we made it around the world", Katie is fairly happy despite being #2
 "It has been life changing. We have done so many cool things and met so many fabulous people", Mona

[apskip]

maf,

It has been a fine season following your reports. They provide an excellent record for future Amazing Race historians! Thanks!

[Jobby]

Great reading them and I really appreciate your efforts maf! <3

[redskevin88]

Love them, thank you maf!

[BryantHiggins]

hello thanks for information.. But when will new season begin? I was not able to attend old one so please help me with new season schedule.. Please reply thanks in advance:)

[Alenaveda]

  and  to R.F.F., BryantHiggins!

The next season starts at September 29th.

You can check for more info here:

http://forum.realityfanforum.com/index.php/topic,28927.msg888381.html#msg888381

[georgiapeach]

Thank you SO much for the wonderful season of recaps!! You add so much to our enjoyment!!