Topic: The Amazing Race 13 *Spoilers Only!* (spoiler summary page 1)

[puddin]

Needless to say, you made our day selwyn 

Thank you so much !!!!!!!

[georgiapeach]

Thank you SO much for sharing this, selwyn!

This is truly fabulous news, because I was heartbroken to think we were coming so close and yet might miss out on a NZ leg.

But now I am really really looking forward to this leg!

Back to my GlowWorm Cave!!

[Chateau d If]

About the New Zealand leg:

The flight that we know they take from Santiago at 10:45 pm April 30th would put teams into Auckland at 3:55 am on May 2nd.

Apskip needs to interrogate his friend to find out if the evening departure out Auckland was really on May 2nd.  There is plenty of time to still get to Cambodia by late morning of May 4th.

[georgiapeach]

About the New Zealand leg:

The flight that we know they take from Santiago at 10:45 pm April 30th would put teams into Auckland at 3:55 am on May 2nd.

Apskip needs to interrogate his friend to find out if the evening departure out Auckland was really on May 2nd.  There is plenty of time to still get to Cambodia by late morning of May 4th.

Or maybe what apskip's brother-in-law saw was production leaving a day ahead to get a jump on the teams. We know this does happen from previous races.

Is there a way teams can actually arrive in Cambodia on 5/4 and still make it to our sites in time? If so, we would have plenty of time with all day the 2nd and the 3rd in NZ and then 5/4 as part travel day. Otherwise they are down to 24-36 hours max in NZ which seems tight.

[Chateau d If]

Yes, they can arrive on May 4th.  Here is how: 

Fly Thai Airways International  990 leaving Auckland  on May 3rd at 1:15 pm and arriving in Bangkok at 9:00 pm
Fly  Bangkok Airway 903 leaving Bangkok on May 4th at 8:00 am and arriving in Siam Reap at 9:00 am

OR , for an even later departure (ie it gives more time for the Auckland leg):

Fly Emirates 433 leaving Auckland on May 3rd at 4:55 pm and arriving in Brisbane at 6:35 pm
Fly  Thai Airways International  992 leaving Brisbane on May 3rd at 11:59 pm and arriving in Bangkok at 5:59 am
Fly  Bangkok Airway 903 leaving Bangkok on May 4th at 8:00 am and arriving in Siam Reap at 9:00 am

These flights give them time to land and get to the Wat by 11:30 am (first known sighting).

[selwyn]

My informants also tell me that at least one team was quite a way behind at the end of the NZ leg. So it's possible that not all teams land in Cambodia the same time.

[Chateau d If]

*I just checked with Ray and he said the Amazing Race team did arrive in Auckland, went into the city for the day and came back to the airport late that evening and departed.  He told me he saw Phil Keogan the kiwi who fronts the show waiting for the competitors.
*This fits perfectly with my theory that teams would do a REST DAY or in this case from 0355 until late evening

I think what happened here is that the Teams finished checking-in around sundown on may 2nd and so Phil with some production went to the Auckland airport to make the 10:45 flight to Singapore (then Bangkok then Siem Reap).  Then the racers begin the next leg in the morning of May 3rd.  They can drive back to Auckland and catch the afternoon flight combinations to Siem Reap.

                   

[georgiapeach]

oooh I like that! It works, doesn't it! 

Thanks, Chateau! 

[Chateau d If]

Thank Brooke.  She makes the music.

[apskip]

About the New Zealand leg:

The flight that we know they take from Santiago at 10:45 pm April 30th would put teams into Auckland at 3:55 am on May 2nd.

Apskip needs to interrogate his friend to find out if the evening departure out Auckland was really on May 2nd.  There is plenty of time to still get to Cambodia by late morning of May 4th.

CHATEAU, the information from my brother-in-law is extremely specific. He does after all work at Auckland International Airport and knows the difference between May 2 and any other day. He doesn't know what the teams look like but he knows what happened. I do know if he observed all of it himself because he only works one shift, but the peple in the know at Auckland International Airport undoubtedly shared information about such an important visit to New Zealand.

[Chateau d If]

I do know if he observed

Are you missing a 'not' ?

[nikita]

Yes, they can arrive on May 4th.  Here is how: 

Fly Thai Airways International  990 leaving Auckland  on May 3rd at 1:15 pm and arriving in Bangkok at 9:00 pm
Fly  Bangkok Airway 903 leaving Bangkok on May 4th at 8:00 am and arriving in Siam Reap at 9:00 am

OR , for an even later departure (ie it gives more time for the Auckland leg):

Fly Emirates 433 leaving Auckland on May 3rd at 4:55 pm and arriving in Brisbane at 6:35 pm
Fly  Thai Airways International  992 leaving Brisbane on May 3rd at 11:59 pm and arriving in Bangkok at 5:59 am
Fly  Bangkok Airway 903 leaving Bangkok on May 4th at 8:00 am and arriving in Siam Reap at 9:00 am

These flights give them time to land and get to the Wat by 11:30 am (first known sighting).

I was on PG903 flight on May 4 and it was 10 minutes late. I did not notice any teams. I did see a camera man loitering at Passport Control in Siem Reap Airport... 

[georgiapeach]

Thanks so much nikita! Every bit of info helps!

But now that we know TAR was in Auckland, we need to take another look at this post about Tauranga from mez:

Hi, this is completely unconfirmed and comes to me third hand but my mother was listening to a talk show on the radio yesterday here in NZ and there was a woman from Tauranga on who said that a reality show had been through there-well, the Tauranga-Mount Maunganui area (in the North Island, not far from Auckland). I asked my mother if the woman had said when and she said no but she got the impression listening that it was in the last month.

I know this is very unreliable so please treat it with a grain of salt!!

http://forum.realityfanforum.com/index.php/topic,15356.msg300434.html#msg300434

[apskip]

Yes, they can arrive on May 4th.  Here is how: 

Fly Thai Airways International  990 leaving Auckland  on May 3rd at 1:15 pm and arriving in Bangkok at 9:00 pm
Fly  Bangkok Airway 903 leaving Bangkok on May 4th at 8:00 am and arriving in Siam Reap at 9:00 am

OR , for an even later departure (ie it gives more time for the Auckland leg):

Fly Emirates 433 leaving Auckland on May 3rd at 4:55 pm and arriving in Brisbane at 6:35 pm
Fly  Thai Airways International  992 leaving Brisbane on May 3rd at 11:59 pm and arriving in Bangkok at 5:59 am
Fly  Bangkok Airway 903 leaving Bangkok on May 4th at 8:00 am and arriving in Siam Reap at 9:00 am

These flights give them time to land and get to the Wat by 11:30 am (first known sighting).

There are many other possibilities than these that should be considered:

1. If WRP wanted to find a different route on Friday night, May 2 to separate Phil from the teams and parellel the nonstop flight from AKL to SIN and then connecting to get to BKK by mid-morning, in addition to SQ282/SQ970 2355 0645 AKL SIN there is
AKL HKG NZ39 2330 0645 connecting in Hong Kong with HKG BKK CX713 0855 1035.
May 4 BKK REP  PG903 0800 0900 is the connection to Siem Reap for incoming SQ970. Unless CX713 arrives early, connection to   PG905 1100 1220 will not be possible and those teams would have to take   PG913 0310 0430

2. Why would teams wait until mid-afternoon to start flying north? I can't think of a good reason since they have this combination(note that we are now Saturday May 3 so this causes negatives for normal flight schedules):
AKL SYD LAN801 0525 0705  or  QF40 0550 0730  or  NZ101 0700 0830  
QF81 SYD ADL 0930 1115 continuing on the same flight
QF81 ADL SIN 1220 1830
TG410 SIN BKK 2040 2200
May 4   PG903 BKK REP 0800 0900

3. The early afternoon option of nonstop AKL BKK TG419 is a good one if teams waited that long. Almost equally good is
AKL SYD QF790 1325 1450
SYD BKK QF301 1635 2255
May 4  PG903 BKK REP 0800 0900

Those are the logical possibilities. The reports of a team trailing behind out of New Zealand could mean that some teams went Friday night and at least one on Saturday morning.

[Chateau d If]

Why would teams wait until mid-afternoon to start flying north? I can't think of a good reason since they have this combination

Apskip, I think you have lost the thread.  Peach asked this:

Is there a way teams can actually arrive in Cambodia on 5/4 and still make it to our sites in time? If so, we would have plenty of time with all day the 2nd and the 3rd in NZ and then 5/4 as part travel day. Otherwise they are down to 24-36 hours max in NZ which seems tight.

She is asking for flights so that teams would have plenty of time with all day the 2nd and the 3rd in NZ.  You don't have to think of a good reason why  teams would wait until mid-afternoon to start flying north.  Good reason is already given:  "for an even later departure (ie it gives more time for the Auckland leg)"

The objective is to maximize the time for the leg so that we can begin fitting in likely tasks and locations in New Zealand.

The flights I posted achieve that while the ones you show would have teams spending the time in transit.  This imposes an artificial constraint on the amount of time we have to work with.  The consequence of having an incorrectly applied constraint is that it causes valid options of tasks and locations to be dismissed.  I hope you can see the importance of this.

[apskip]

CHATEAU, you answer the questions you want to and leave it to me to select those I want to answer. If you can't undersstand the relevance of what I do, then tough luck.

[Chateau d If]

Well, you asked the question   

Why would teams wait until mid-afternoon to start flying north?

[apskip]

Yes, they can arrive on May 4th.  Here is how: 

Fly Thai Airways International  990 leaving Auckland  on May 3rd at 1:15 pm and arriving in Bangkok at 9:00 pm
Fly  Bangkok Airway 903 leaving Bangkok on May 4th at 8:00 am and arriving in Siam Reap at 9:00 am

OR , for an even later departure (ie it gives more time for the Auckland leg):

Fly Emirates 433 leaving Auckland on May 3rd at 4:55 pm and arriving in Brisbane at 6:35 pm
Fly  Thai Airways International  992 leaving Brisbane on May 3rd at 11:59 pm and arriving in Bangkok at 5:59 am
Fly  Bangkok Airway 903 leaving Bangkok on May 4th at 8:00 am and arriving in Siam Reap at 9:00 am

These flights give them time to land and get to the Wat by 11:30 am (first known sighting).

I was on PG903 flight on May 4 and it was 10 minutes late. I did not notice any teams. I did see a camera man loitering at Passport Control in Siem Reap Airport... 

Let's work backwards here. In order to be seen at Angkor Wat late morning of Sunday May 4, then PG905 BKK REP 1100 1220 arrives too late. And Nikita assures us that no teams were on PG903 BKK REP 0800 0900. The only other possibilities to arrive that morning is SQ5026 SIN REP 1025 1135 (clearly too late). Arrivals on QV512 from Vientiane at 0925, VN809 from HoChiMinh City at 0945, and MU745 from NNG (Nanning China) at 1030 all have no possibility of morning connections in from Singapore through those places and the same would be true from BKK in addition to the fact that it makes no sense to travel other than the short direct route BKK REP.

Add all of that up and my conlcusion is that the teams that were sighted by the photographer had to be in Siem Rep the evening of May 3. There is no way to get there in time on May 4 if we believe Nikita's eyewitness report (which I obviously do but others apparently do not). In combination with previous information, this means that nobody leaving Auckland after midnight turning from May 2 to May 3 would get to Siem Reap in time.

Back that up to Auckland and here's what you get:
May 2 AKL SIN SQ282 2355 0645+1/May 3 SIN BKK SQ970 0845 1010, then any of these flight on BangkokAirways BKK REP:
   PG905 1100 1220  or  PG913 1510 1430  PG907 1740 1900  or  PG909 1820 1940  
or
May 2 AKL HKG NZ39 2330 0645+1/May 3 HKG BKK CX713 0855 1035, then the same flights shown above except not PG905.

That's it. End of story. Teams have to depart Auckland on Friday night May 2 if they are to be at Ankgor Wat in the late morning of Sunday May 4. The only possible alternative, going by road overnight the roughly 300 miles east from Bangkok to Siem Reap, is not something that previous Amazing Races have allowed.

[michael]

That's it. End of story. Teams have to depart Auckland on Friday night May 2

according to you anyways

[apskip]

Michael, can I ask what sources in New Zealand are you providing to RFF? I thought so, so you had best read and learn.

NEW INFORMATION FROM MY BROTHER-IN-LAW CONCERNING MAY 2

"I definitely know Phil Keoghan was at the airport with a senior management staff member and possibly an assistant of Phil's in attendance, plus two officers from our division. They had a photo op which appeared in our in-house staff mag a couple of days ago.
I did not see, but was assured by others on the relieved shift, that the AR teams were in the city and due to fly out that night. As I was not further involved with that side of things - My duties that night involved communications and boarding announcing, I did not see, nor did I hear anything further. As I had no reason to disbelieve my colleagues, I assumed the info was valid. However, there is the possibility assumptions where made..... so now I will have to investigate further."

So further insights may be anticipated, but it may be a few days. One thing is pretty clear, as in his previous report. That is the departure of the AR13 teams from Auckland on the evening of May 2.
 

[michael]

Michael, can I ask what sources in New Zealand are you providing to RFF? I thought so, so you had best read and learn.

uhh don't tell me what to do

[Chateau d If]

Apskip:  In combination with previous information, this means that nobody leaving Auckland after midnight turning from May 2 to May 3 would get to Siem Reap in time.

Well, noooo !   

This flight is just as good as the last one I found that gave a day and half for activities on Auckland: 

Fly Emirates 433 leaving Auckland on May 3rd at 4:55 pm and arriving in Brisbane at 6:35 pm
Continue with Emirates 433 leaving Brisbane on May 3rd at 8:05 pm and arriving in Singapore at 1:50 am
Fly Jetstar Asia 595 leaving Singapore on May 4th at 6:00 am and arriving in Siem Reap at 7:05 am.

And regarding nikita's piece of information, it's not that I don't believe it.  It's a logical thing:  Absence of seeing something does not prove its non-existence.

[puddin]

just butting in here another fwiw

Blog

Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Just to catch up....
So I just got back into Thailand from Cambodia.... which is why i haven't posted in a while. Ends up that Cambodia is not a telecommunications mecca. Anyways, everything has kinda been a whirlwind. Covered 3 countries in 2 weeks and it kinda feels like we are on "The Amazing Race".... and i mean literally. Yesterday we were in Angkor Wat (more of that story later... it is AMAZING... you should look up pictures... seriously a Wonder of the Ancient world--- i thought better than the stuff i saw in Rome) The Amazing Race was filming at Angkor the same day we were there. AND THEN... we end up at the airport to fly to Bangkok from Cambodia... and who was on our airplane.... thats right.... 3 teams competing on the next season of the Amazing Race. We are sitting there and then all the sudden all these camera and sound guys are filming everything. And the producer guy was sitting in the seat right behind me and vida. CRAZY!! So now we consider ourselves official unofficial cast members. And before all this started I was telling vida that i thought it felt like we were on the amazing race.

[Chateau d If]

Okay, so what they saw on May 5th at Angkor Wat was Teams starting their next leg.  Maybe one clue to find but then it's off to the airport.  Remember, there are teams on Bangkok Airways 924 leaving Siem Reap at 9:50 am and arriving in Bangkok at 10:45 am based on the other flight spotting on the way to Delhi.  Here are all the flights to Bangkok:
#            leaves       arrives
PG 924  9:50 am    10:45 am
PG 906 12:50 pm   2:00 pm
PG 914 2:30 pm     3:40 pm
PG 908 7:35 pm     8:45 pm
PG 910 8:15 pm     9:25 pm

Did we determine that all the teams are on the same flight from Bangkok to Delhi?  At least some were spotted on Air India flight 854 that leaves Bangkok at 1:30 pm.

[puddin]

  I bet peach will ask  ....so what are the odds they saw the same 3 teams?

The Air India flight 854 blogger

*And I could easily pick out who the crew were and the various couples
*Some were partners,
*some were family,
*some were friends
*give one couple your guidebook/when you go to hand your book to the gentleman
*A pair of young jewish boys

And the newest blogger above says 3 teams no specifics