Racing report
Amazing Race Canada Season 9, Episode 11 "It's Zebra time"
Film dates: 2023-05-13 - 2023-05-14
The last Pit Stop was at Sunnyside Beach in Toronto. For this leg teams are released from a park right by the Queens Park metro station in downtown Toronto. Teams are released in the following order:
| 1. | Tyler & Kayleen | 14:13 | |
| 2. | Ben & Anwar | 14:34 | +0:21 |
| 3. | Ty & Kat | 14:54 | +0:41 |
Route info: "This is it, the final leg of the race. Fly to Halifax, Nova Scotia. You have $1400 for the last leg of the race."
As they leave Toronto we get a little bit of background on the teams. Tyler & Kayleen are all about pushing through barriers and pain (as he is a double amputee). Ben & Anwar talk about how their parents arrived to Canada as immigrants from Africa (Somalia & Ethiopia).
"
Their ability to walk gives us the ability to run", Anwar about how their parents gave them the base from which they could succeed
Ty & Kat are all about his teammates who died in the crash which he survived.
All teams are on the same flight to Halifax. Once they land they need to make their way to Fisherman's Cove, where they will find their next clue. Or that is at least what Jon says.
In reality I assume there was a hours of operations here. We see teams leave the airport for Fisherman's Cove, and it is pitch black outside. I get the distinct impression that it is late evening when they arrive. And then suddenly their are traveling in their taxis and it is early morning. And now two of the teams have different clothes on. So I assume they all went to Fisherman's Cove when they landed late at night, found a hours of operations or similar and went somewhere to sleep. And when we catch up with them again they are on their way there the next morning. We do not see all the teams grab the clue at once so I assume the release was staggered in the order teams arrived last night.
Teams seem to get the clue in Fisherman's Cove (40km) in the following order:
1. Tyler & Kayleen
2. Ty & Kat
3. Ben & Anwar
Road block: Who's bad with directions?
This road block takes place at CFB Shearwater (3km). Here one racer will board a CH-148 Cyclone Helicopter. The helicopter will be carrying a weight slung in a rope under the helicopter. The racers must lie on their bellies and look out of the side door and direct the pilot to place the weight within a small target on the ground. They have to do this within 5 minutes or less.
There are three helicopters so teams do not need to wait. The tasks seems to be fairly easy as everybody completes it on their first attempt.
Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the road block):
| 1(+0) | Tyler* & Kayleen | (4-4) | Did it in 3:21 |
| 2(+0) | Ty & Kat* | (4-4) | Did it in 2:50 |
| 3(+0) | Ben* & Anwar | (5-3) | Did it in 2:29 |
The next clue send teams to a Staples store at Chain Lake Dr (25km). Here they will get a sponsor phone and for the rest of the leg they will be getting clues beamed to their phone in the form of pictures.
"
Our team motto is 'Slow is smooth, smooth is fast'", Tyler as Ty & Kat pass them in their taxi.
Teams get their phones form Staples in the following order:
1(+1) Ty & Kat
2(+1) Ben & Anwar, just as team #1 is showing their driver where to go next
3(-2) Tyler & Kayleen, seconds after #2
The photo gallery on the phone contains two pictures. One of the entrance to the Dartmouth Alderney Ferry Terminal (the sign is in the picture) and the second is of one of the boats there.
Teams arrive to the ferry terminal (12km) in the following order:
1(+0) Ty & Kat
2(+0) Ben & Anwar
3(+0) Tyler & Kayleen
There is no ferry docked at the terminal when teams arrive. It seems to leave every 30 minutes so all teams meet up while they are waiting. When it arrives teams see that there is a clue box on the upper deck of the ferry. There is a mad dash to the clue box and teams get their clues here in the following order:
1(+1) Ben & Anwar
2(-1) Ty & Kat
3(+0) Tyler & Kayleen
The order does not matter very much since teams are just seconds apart. As soon as they get the clue they all get off the ferry before they open it. The clue sends them to Woozles children's book store. Here three kids will read a children's book for them. Then racers must then put the picture pages of the books in the correct order in a display case outside the door.
The task is made considerably easier by the fact that the kids will show the racers each page in the book as they are reading it. The books are:
* A Nova Scotia Lullaby, 21 picture pages
* Halifax Harbor 123, 10 picture pages
* Mi'kmaw waisisk, 8 picture pages
Teams arrive to Woozles in the same order they left the ferry terminal. Ty & Kat start by organizing their pictures according to book to make the task easier. There are a couple of tricks to this task. The Halifax Harbor book is a counting book so it is easy to count the number of the prominent objects in each picture and sort them that way. The lullaby has many pages but actually there are just two sets of ten pictures plus one extra. The first sets are day and night versions of the same picture, so they go in the same order. Once teams realize this the task becomes much easier.
Teams complete this task in the following order:
1(+1) Ty & Kat
2(+1) Tyler & Kayleen
3(-2) Ben & Anwar
The next clue is a couple of pictures of a building with a sign "Grand Parade" outside. This building is the city hall and teams reach it in the same order they left the previous challenge.
At city hall teams find a dance challenge. They need to learn and perform three dances. The first two dances, an indigenous Shawl dance and Scottish Highland dance, are learned by one racer each. Then they both need to learn the final Punjabi Bhangra dance. All the dances have to be performed in one go.
"
I played bagpipes for most of my youth. I wish I was playing bagpipes instead of dancing", Tyler
All three teams are at this challenge at the same time, so the race is still very close.
"
It doesn't have to be pretty, it just has to be good enough", Tyler is struggling to dance with his prosthesis
In some of the race dance challenges the judges are very strict, you have to do just right with your feet and hands etc. On others they seem to be happy if you just do the right movements in the right order. The judging of this task leans towards the latter category, that is they are quite lenient.
Teams complete this in the following order:
1(+0) Ty & Kat, on their 2nd attempt
2(+0) Tyler & Kayleen, on their 3rd attempt
3(+0) Ben & Anwar, on their 3rd attempt
The next clue consists of 3 pictures of the office of Sea Halifax. When they arrive there (1km) they find a normal clue box:
ROAD BLOCK
Who's happy they don't
have to figure out what
the outside clue means?
This is another road block. Contestants have to suit up (life preservers and wetsuits) and are then taken on a boat to George's Island National Historic Site. Here the racer who did not complete the previous roadblock will have 1 minute 15 seconds to ride a Jet Ski through a course, pick up a cheap zebra striped water toy, and return to the starting line.
When they arrive Ty & Kat leave their bags in the taxi and ask their driver to park in the parking lot while they do the task. Unfortunately for them, when they come to check out their life wests and wetsuit the lady asks for their id, which they of course left in their bags. They have to go back and try to locate their taxi, which seems to take a while. While they do so Tyler & Kayleen pass them.
"
Oh my god, this is a disaster", Ty is upset
There is only one jet ski available so racers will have to wait in line.
"
It's zebra time", Tyler gets the title as Kayleen are racing
Ben & Anwar must have taken some time to complete the dancing because they arrive to the changing room as Tyler & Kayleen are leaving. That means Tyler & Kayleen has had time to ride the boat to the task, make two attempts and ride the boat back.
Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the road block):
| 1(+0) | Ty* & Kat | (5-4) | On his 1st attempt |
| 2(+0) | Tyler & Kayleen* | (4-5) | On her 2nd shown attempt |
| 3(+0) | Ben & Anwar* | (5-4) | On his 2nd attempt |
The next clue is pictures again. This time they show the Queen's Marque. This is actually very close, 350m by car or 100m on foot. Here teams find another clue box: "Route Info. It's a cross examination. Complete a race-themed crossword puzzle about locations and events you've experienced during the race."
Teams must now solve the Amazing Race Canada Crossword Puzzle. The crossword is laid out on the ground and is about 2m square. Teams are given a box of sorted letter tiles and a sheet with the clues. The clues we get to hear are (with the correct answers in parentheses):
- 2 across: You flew on it (helicopter)
- 3 down: You played it (poker)
- 4 down: You raced through it on the first leg (Calgary)
- 6 down: You set it (table)
- 7 down: You went down it (waterslide)
- 8 across: You got a clue from it (alien)
- 10 across: You carried it (backpack)
- 11 across: You searched a glass one for art (vault)
- 13 down: You searched through it (castle)
- 16 across: You searched for it (golfball)
- 18 across: You raced through it on the fifth leg (Tofino)
- 20 down: We sniffed it (wine)
The completed crossword should look like this:
C
L
U
HELICOPTER
O
C K
PADDLE
L R
T W G
ALIEN BACKPACK
B N T R
VAULT G E Y
E VICTORIA
N S C T
PLANE GOLFBALL A
I S C
F D TOFINO
WHISTLER L C
I S E A E E
N H N D
E N I
TRAIN O
R S
E
E
"
Throughout this whole race, we've both been working on a lot of crosswords", Kayleen feel ready for this
One of the words Ty & Kat struggle with is "10 across: You carried it". Initially they put "Tortiere", but that does not fit with Calgary so they change it to"Tortiare".
Tyler & Kayleen also want to put "Tortiere" on 10 across but Kayleen points out that it doesn't fit.
"
Yes, it does! ... No, it doesn't", Tyler realize that she is right, it does not fit
They quickly realize that it should be "Backpack" instead.
Meanwhile Ty & Kat reach 18 across and realize that it should be "Golfball". But they have run out of the letter "o". At this moment both Ty & Kat have 23 of the 25 words, and Ben & Anwar have not arrived yet. Ty & Kat then get "Waterslide" and realize there should not be an "o" in Tortiere". Instead they are now spelling it "Tartiare". They call the judge who tells them they are wrong. Shortly after that Tyler & Kayleen call for a check. Both teams know how crucial this is and they get very distracted when the other team calls for a check.
"
No, stop looking", Kat wants Ty to concentrate on their crossword
Tyler & Kayleen has put "watter" instead of "castle" on 13 down so they also get told they are wrong.
Ty & Kat realize that "Tartiare" is wrong and that it should be "backpack", and they get approved by the judge. In the telecast it looks like Tyler & Kayleen get approved shortly after, but from a report on the ground we know that they left 22 minutes after team #1.
1(+0) Ty & Kat, left at 14:57
2(+0) Tyler & Kayleen, left at 15:19 (+0:22)
3(+0) Ben & Anwar, left at 16:04 (+1:07)
The next clue is a picture of a monument in the form of an anchor. It is unclear if the clue included the name of the monument. But no team seems to have any problems figuring out that it is the Bonaventure Anchor in Point Pleasant park. Teams are not told that this is the pit stop.
Of course we get to see shots of team #1 stuck in traffic while #2 seem to be catching up on their way there. In reality team #1 had probably reached the finish line before team #2 even left the crossword puzzle.
Teams reach Jon and the finish line by the Bonaventure Anchor (4km) in the following order:
1(+0) Ty & Kat, win the cars, a trip around the world, $250,000 (powered by Samsung no less) and the title
2(+0) Tyler & Kayleen
3(+0) Ben & Anwar
"
6 provinces, 11 cities and over 12,000 kilometers from coast to coast", Jon sums up the race
"
This experience has just been nothing short of truly amazing, and I feel so lucky to be here and so thankful to do this with you", Kat to Ty
When Jon asks what is next for them Kat answers "
Hopefully, a ring on my finger". Ty says that it will come.
One easy thing to miss at the mat is when Ben says "
I'm sorry", as an apology for putting Gracie & Lily on the pass board. Gracie responds with a "
It's okay!", which just shows how Canadian this race has been.
