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Offline maf

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TAR Canada 7 Racing report, episode #11 is on page #1
« on: July 09, 2019, 01:03:21 PM »
I will do reports for all legs again but some of them may be a bit late as I will be traveling.
« Last Edit: September 16, 2019, 12:03:23 AM by maf »

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Re: TAR Canada 7 Racing report, episode #1 is one page #1
« Reply #1 on: July 09, 2019, 01:04:38 PM »
Racing report
Amazing Race Canada Season 7, Episode 1, "Canada get more maps"
Film dates: 2019-04-23 - 2019-04-24

This seasons starts at David Pecaut Square in Toronto. 9 teams assemble here and then Jon presents the 10th team. Before the race CTV let Canada choose among three teams of former racers and Canada choose Jet & Dave so they get to run the race again.

The racing teams are:
  • Sarah & Sam - Olympian Teammates from Toronto and Calgary, AB
  • Nicki & Aisha - best friends from Toronto
  • Anthony & James - married couple from Edmonton, AB
  • Lauren & Joanne - sisters from Regina, SK
  • Aarthy & Thinesh - dating couple from Vancouver
  • Trish & Amy - friends from Toronto
  • Meaghan & Marie - queer twin sisters from Halixfax, NS
  • Gilles & Sean - grandfather and grandson from Sunderland, ON
  • Dave & Irina - married couple from Montreal, QB
  • Jet & Dave - best friends from season 1
Jon also presents the prize for the winners of this season. It is two new Chevrolet cars, a trip for 2 around the world, $250,000 and the title.

When Jon says go teams rush up the stairs where their find the first clue waiting on their bags.
Quote
ROUTE INFO

Make your way to Extreme
Reach recording stdio and
search outside for your
next clue!

You have $900.00 for
this leg of the race.

NOTE: In this leg there
are two Express Passes
up for grabs!
Teams rush to find taxis.
 "We're scared of Canada's choice, Jet & Dave kind of ruined my day", Gilles & Sean

They arrive at the studio in the following order:
  1. Dave & Irina
  2. Jet & Dave     
  3. Gilles & Sean
  4. Nicki & Aisha
  5. Anthony & James
  6. Sarah & Sam
  7. Meaghan & Marie
  8. Lauren & Joanne
  9. Aarthy & Thinesh
 10. Trish & Amy

Road block: Woo can hear the lion roar?

In this sponsor road block contestants must record the voice over for the trailer to the upcoming Disney move the Lion King. They do have the text in front of them, all six lines of it, but timing is everything and the judge is strict. Each contestant seem to get a practice room but there are only two recording studios where they can do the task.

We learn that Aisha has a degree in acting so she feels confident with this task.
 "Cut, go back and practice", but the director has other ideas
 "I got to my second line and she said cut so that's not good", Jet

 "I've got to memorize these lines", Sam thinks he has to memorize it all
 "I have wasted so much time", Sam when he realizes the lines are in the recording booth

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the road block):
1(+0)Dave & Irina*    (0-1)On her 1st attempt
2(+0)Jet* & Dave      (1-0)On his 2nd attempt
3(+1)Nicki & Aisha*   (0-1)On her 7th attempt
4(+3)Meaghan* & Marie (0-0)On her 4th attempt
5(+5)Trish* & Amy     (1-0)On her 5th attempt
6(-3)Gilles & Sean*   (0-1)On his 8th attempt
7(+1)Lauren & Joanne* (0-1)On her 7th attempt
8(-3)Anthony* & James (1-0)On his 6th attempt
9(+0)Aarthy & Thinesh*(0-0)On his 8th attempt
10(-4)Sarah & Sam*     (0-1)On his 13th attempt

The next clue sends teams to the Ontario food terminal (17min 14km). Here they must search for two halves of a postcard which will reveal their next destination.

Teams find the two halves in the following order:
 1(+1) Jet & Dave     
 2(-1) Dave & Irina
 3(+0) Nicki & Aisha
 4(+1) Trish & Amy
 5(+2) Lauren & Joanne
 6(-2) Meaghan & Marie
 ?(+?) Sarah & Sam
 ?(+?) Anthony & James
 ?(+?) Aarthy & Thinesh
 ?(+?) Gilles & Sean

The postcard tells teams to go to Kamloops BC. They must now make their way to the Toronto airport and sign up for one of two flights landing 30 minutes apart.

The first flight carries:
  Jet & Dave     
  Dave & Irina
  Nicki & Aisha
  Lauren & Joanne
  Trish & Amy

The second flight carries:
  Meaghan & Marie
  Sarah & Sam
  Anthony & James
  Aarthy & Thinesh
  Gilles & Sean

Teams fly to Kamloops via Vancouver.

Once they land they need to find a sponsor car and their next clue in the parking lot.

Road block: "Who likes mine games?"

In this road block the team mate who did not perform the previous road block must zip-line 1000ft across the abandoned Ajax Copper mine. While they do that they must throw a yellow ball so it lands inside a target floating on the lake 100ft below. They will get their next clue once they hit the target.

 "I know where we are, I just don't know where we are going", Amy

Teams arrive to the mine (33min 25km) in the following order:
  1. Jet & Dave     
  2. Nicki & Aisha
  3. Dave & Irina
  4. Lauren & Joanne
  5. Anthony & James
  6. Trish & Amy
  7. Sarah & Sam
  8. Aarthy & Thinesh
  9. Gilles & Sean
 10. Meaghan & Marie

 'I'm a basketball player, I've got this on lock", Nicki is sure of herself (but misses)

 "He's gonna get it in the first try, 100%", Irina is certain of her husbands abilities
 "What happens if he doesn't?", Jet

The only one really struggling here is Gilles which takes quite a few tries. Sean gets stressed when all other teams have left and they are the only ones left.
 "At this point I need a team to mess up for us to get trough this game", Sean (and fortunately for them somebody is messing up)

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the road block):
1(+2)Dave* & Irina    (1-1)On his 1st attempt
2(-1)Jet & Dave*      (1-1)On his 3rd attempt
3(+1)Lauren* & Joanne (1-1)On her 2nd attempt
4(+3)Sarah* & Sam     (1-1)On her 1st attempt
5(+1)Trish & Amy*     (1-1)On her 2nd attempt
6(-4)Nicki* & Aisha   (1-1)On her 3rd attempt
7(+3)Meaghan & Marie* (1-1)On her 2nd attempt
8(+0)Anthony & James* (1-1)On his ?th attempt
9(-1)Aarthy* & Thinesh(1-1)On his 2nd attempt
10(-1)Gilles* & Sean   (1-1)On his 7th attempt

Route info: Drive yourselves to Circle Creek Ranch an search the grounds for your next clue.

 "As a navigator it is my job to follow the map, but I don't have a map", Jet
Jet & Dave have trouble finding the ranch.
 "Navigate to the youngest person with the newest phone", Jet has some navigational tricks
Eventually Jet & Dave arrive in Merritt, which is about an hour from where they need to be. Here they find somebody who can show them where they should be.

Teams arrive to Circle Creek ranch (14min 8.7km) in the following order:
  1(+0) Dave & Irina
  2(+2) Sarah & Sam
  3(+0) Lauren & Joanne, just after #2
  4(+3) Meaghan & Marie
  5(+1) Nicki & Aisha
  6(+2) Anthony & James
  7(-2) Trish & Amy
  8(+0) Aarthy & Thinesh
  9(+0) Gilles & Sean
 10(-8) Jet & Dave     

At this ranch teams must search a heard of 30 calves. Their next location is written on a tag attached to the ear of one of the cows. The text is written in fairly small type so they must get relatively close without spooking the younglins.

Lauren & Joanne work with Sarah & Sam at this task. This makes sense since they are both there together but one team is ahead so they are probably not fighting for first.
 "We're hoping that if we do this together, none of us are eliminated", Sam

 "This is way harder than I thought", Meaghan

 "I hope I get to do some dressage, most beautiful of the horse dances", Dave (of Jet & Dave)
 
Teams get the next destination "Kamloops bike ranch" in the following order:
  1(+0) Dave & Irina
  2(+1) Lauren & Joanne
  3(-1) Sarah & Sam, just after #2
  4(+0) Meaghan & Marie
  5(+2) Trish & Amy
  6(+0) Anthony & James
  7(-2) Nicki & Aisha
  8(+0) Aarthy & Thinesh
  9(+0) Gilles & Sean
 10(+0) Jet & Dave     

Quote
ROUTE INFO

Drive yourself to the
Kamloops Bike Ranch
and search the bike
trails on foot for Jon at
your first Pit Stop.

Warning! The last team
to check in may be
eliminated.
The bike ranch (16min 14km) is a big place and Jon is waiting at the top plateau.

Nicki & Aisha has trouble finding Jon. They think he will be at the bottom, which is very wrong.

Teams reach Jon and the mat in the following order:
  1(+0) Dave & Irina, win a trip to Cape town and 2 express passes
  2(+1) Sarah & Sam
  3(+1) Meaghan & Marie, just after #2
  4(-2) Lauren & Joanne, just after #3
  5(+0) Trish & Amy
  6(+0) Anthony & James
  7(+1) Aarthy & Thinesh
  8(-1) Nicki & Aisha
  9(+0) Gilles & Sean, just after #8
 10(+0) Jet & Dave, are eliminated

The winners get 2 express passes. One for them to use and one which they must give away by the end of the 3rd leg.

 "This is like the worst thing that could have happened", Dave
 "We learned a hard lesson. Maps are very important. They actually show you locations. Maps are great. Hey, Canada get more maps", Dave gets the title


Offline maf

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Re: TAR Canada 7 Racing report, episode #2
« Reply #2 on: July 13, 2019, 01:41:56 PM »
Racing report
Amazing Race Canada Season 7, Episode 2, "Our Competition's Not That Smart"
Film dates: 2019-04-26

The last pit stop was at the top of the Kamloops Bike Ranch. Teams are released from the Riverside Park in central Kamloops after a pit stop of over 24h. They are released in the following order:
1.Dave & Irina    05:46
2.Sarah & Sam     06:13+0:27
3.Meaghan & Marie 06:15+0:29
4.Lauren & Joanne 06:16+0:30
5.Trish & Amy     06:23+0:37
6.Anthony & James 06:45+0:59
7.Aarthy & Thinesh06:46+1:00
8.Nicki & Aisha   06:56+1:10
9.Gilles & Sean   06:57+1:11

Route info: Drive yourselves to Revelstoke, British Columbia. Find your next clue along the way at the last spike.

The last spike is a memorial 47km outside Revelstoke and is a memorial where the Canada Pacific railway was completed. Teams will pass it on the way to Revelstoke.

 "Our competitors are not that bright so we're gonna do fine", Irina gets the title
 "Canada's most hated couple", Dave has a good idea how they will be portrayed

 "I'm gonna do better today", Gilles feels he let his grandson down in the last leg

As long as you get on to the trans Canada Highway navigating is easy. Teams seem to arrive at the last spike (1h53min 166km) in the following order:
 1(+1) Sarah & Sam
 2(+1) Meaghan & Marie
 3(-2) Dave & Irina
 4(+2) Anthony & James
 5(+0) Trish & Amy
 6(-2) Lauren & Joanne
 7(+1) Nicki & Aisha
 8(-1) Aarthy & Thinesh
 9(+0) Gilles & Sean

Road block: Who is ready for the main course?

In this road block contestants must drive a dirt bike one lap around a track in 1:50 or less.

The task takes place at Glacier House resort (39min 52km) and teams have to do some navigating to get there. They arrive to the road block location in the following order:
 1(+2) Meaghan & Marie
 2(+1) Dave & Irina
 3(-2) Sarah & Sam
 4(+2) Lauren & Joanne
 5(-1) Anthony & James
 6(-1) Trish & Amy
 7(+2) Gilles & Sean
 8(+0) Aarthy & Thinesh
 9(-2) Nicki & Aisha

Before teams may go on the actual track there is a mini driving school they must pass.
 "I kind of want to see that on tape", Joanne after she lost control of her bike during training

We learn that Marie broke her neck in 2016 but she miraculously recovered. Meaghan is very worried about her during this task. And it does not get better when on her first attempt Marie loses control in a jump and does a really spectacular wipe-out. But she is fine.

The non participating team members wait in a small lookout shelter. Here they start piecing together who went home in the last leg. They are all very happy when they realize that it was Jet & Dave who got eliminated.

Most racers seem to manage this task relatively easily. Sure many fall off their bikes but must seem to get it on their first or second attempt. The only one we see struggling is Joanne who gets scared of the bike so she needs 7 attempts before she makes it by exactly hitting the maximum time.

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the road block):
1(+1)Dave* & Irina    (2-1)
2(-1)Meaghan & Marie* (1-2)
3(+2)Anthony & James* (1-2)
4(+4)Aarthy* & Thinesh(2-1)
5(-2)Sarah & Sam*     (1-2)
6(+1)Gilles & Sean*   (1-2)
7(-1)Trish* & Amy     (2-1)
8(+1)Nicki & Aisha*   (1-2)
9(-5)Lauren & Joanne* (1-2)

Detour: Plant or paddle

In plant teams must travel to the BC Interior Forestry Museum (15min 13km). Here they must pick up 40 tree seedlings which they must plant at the correct distance and depth.

In paddle teams must drive to Williamson lake (21min 15km) where they must collect five flags. The trick is that they must do it while paddling two kayaks which are tied together bow to stern and stern to bow.

Dave & Irina goes for the planting. Irina does not see that they have a measuring rope so she start measuring the distance with her steps.
 "Oh fudge, I didn't think we had a rope", Irina after they see Anthony & James use theirs
They are nearly done when they find the rope and when they measure they realize they have planted the trees at the wrong distances so they have to redo everything.

Meaghan & Marie has done kayaking before. They are very surprised when they realize they kayaks are tied together forwards and backwards.
 "This isn't normal kayaking", Marie

 "So I'm a canoeing instructor, but the problem is boats are not supposed tied together going in opposite directions", Gilles

 "I can't even keep a house plant alive", Trish has doubts about their planting

Not only did Lauren & Joanne struggle at the road block, they are also having a hard time finding the detour. In short they are very last at this time.

Lauren & Joanne is the last team to arrive at the tree planting detour. Strangely enough both they and the two teams still present are cheered up by this. Nicki & Aisha and Trish & Amy are happy that they know on team is behind them and Lauren & Joanne are happy to see other teams.

Teams complete the detour in the following order:
 1(+1) Meaghan & Marie, paddle
 2(-1) Dave & Irina, plant
 3(+1) Aarthy & Thinesh, paddle
 4(+1) Sarah & Sam, paddle
 5(+1) Gilles & Sean, paddle
 6(-3) Anthony & James, plant
 7(+0) Trish & Amy, plant
 8(+0) Nicki & Aisha, plant
 9(+0) Lauren & Joanne, plant

Quote
ROUTE INFO

All aboard!

Drive yourselves to the
Revelstoke Railway
Museum and use all the
pieces in a model train
set to build a track.

Then conduct your train
around the track to
receive your next clue.

Teams must now drive themselves to the railway museum (9min from both detours). They arrive in the following order:
 1(+0) Meaghan & Marie
 2(+0) Dave & Irina
 3(+1) Sarah & Sam
 4(-1) Aarthy & Thinesh
 5(+0) Gilles & Sean
 6(+0) Anthony & James
 ?(+?) Trish & Amy
 ?(+?) Nicki & Aisha
 9(+0) Lauren & Joanne

The track they put together must use all available pieces and form a closed circuit without any dead ends.

 "I was a train nerd when I was a kid", Anthony
 
This turns put to be a hard puzzle. The trick is forming a track without dead ends with the pieces they have (4 switches and a bunch of straights and curves). There are multiple possible solutions.

Meaghan & Marie struggle with this task. It is so bad that they think about taking a penalty. Eventually they ask Sarah & Sam if they can come and look at theirs. Sarah & Sam know how much racers can help each other so they agree, probably hoping for a future pay back.

Lauren & Joanna arrive as Trish & Amy leave and the only other team still at the task is Nicki & Aisha.

Teams complete this task in the following order:
 1(+3) Aarthy & Thinesh
 2(+0) Dave & Irina
 3(+2) Gilles & Sean
 4(-1) Sarah & Sam
 5(-4) Meaghan & Marie
 6(+0) Anthony & James
 7(+?) Trish & Amy
 8(+?) Nicki & Aisha
 9(?0) Lauren & Joanne

Route info: Drive yourselves to Revelstoke Mountain resort.

At the resort (14min 8.5km)  teams must ride the gondola to the top and then search on foot for the mat. It is a bit of a walk and the height makes it a lot harder, but nobody seems to have any trouble finding Jon so either the way was marked or players could see it from the gondola.

As usual when you have two teams fighting for last we see the first team struggling and the second team seem to cruise through all navigation. But we are jaded and have seen that kind of edit many times. It is usually just a trick to add excitement to a non-exciting situation. But in this case the edit did not lie.

Teams reach Jon and the mat in the following order:
 1(+0) Aarthy & Thinesh, win a trip to Madrid and an express pass
 2(+0) Dave & Irina, just after #1
 3(+0) Gilles & Sean
 4(+0) Sarah & Sam
 5(+0) Meaghan & Marie
 6(+0) Anthony & James
 7(+0) Trish & Amy
 8(+1) Lauren & Joanne
 9(-1) Nicki & Aisha, are eliminated

Jon tells Aarthy & Thinesh the express is good until the end of the 7th leg.

 "Team 8 is not team 9, we're still here", Joanne can hardly believe that they survived

 "Even though we did not make it as we wanted to, we have some good stories", Nicki

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Re: TAR Canada 7 Racing report, episode #3
« Reply #3 on: July 30, 2019, 02:13:37 PM »
Racing report
Amazing Race Canada Season 7, Episode 3, "We'll Let the Peasants Fight For Last Place"
Film dates: 2019-04-27 - 2019-04-28

The last pit stop was at the top of a ski slope above Revelstoke Mountain resort. Teams are released from the parking lot of the resort, in the following order:
1.Aarthy & Thinesh12:01
2.Dave & Irina    12:05+0:04
3.Gilles & Sean   12:09+0:08
4.Sarah & Sam     12:14+0:13
5.Meaghan & Marie 12:28+0:27
6.Anthony & James 12:40+0:39
7.Trish & Amy     14:41+2:40
8.Lauren & Joanne 15:15+3:14

The first clue tells teams to fly to Edmonton, AB. They must drive the airport and sign up for one of two flights. The first flight has room for two teams and arrives 2.5h before the second flight. Each team gets $800 for this leg of the race.

The clue also warns teams that there is a double one way ahead. The double one way lets two teams decide which detour two other teams must complete. And in this case it is blind so the teams using it will remain anonymous.

At this point we learn that Meaghan & Marie have a motto "Do it for Jonesy!", this refers to their mom who passed away from cancer when they were 14.

Before they can sign up for the flights teams have a bit of a drive ahead of them as the sign up board is located at the Kamloops airport (2h45min 231km).

Flight #1 carries:
 1(+1) Dave & Irina
 2(-1) Aarthy & Thinesh

Flight #2 carries:
 1(+1) Sarah & Sam
 2(-1) Gilles & Sean
 3(+1) Anthony & James
 ?. Lauren & Joanne
 ?. Trish & Amy
 ?. Meaghan & Marie

At the airport Dave & Irina give their second express pass to Anthony & James as thanks for the latter inadvertently helping them at the tree planting detour in the previous leg (by using the provided measuring rope).

Teams fly from Kamloops to Edmonton with a stopover in Vancouver.

Once they land teams must make their way to the Source in Southgate centre where one of the employees will give them their next clue.

Racers will also get a Samsung Galaxy watch will track the number of steps they take over the course of this leg. The team which finishes with the fewest number of steps taken will win a $5,000 gift card.

Teams reach the store (21min 25km) in the following order:
 1. Aarthy & Thinesh
 2. Dave & Irina
 ?. Sarah & Sam
 ?. Anthony & James
 ?. Lauren & Joanne
 ?. Trish & Amy
 ?. Meaghan & Marie
 ?. Gilles & Sean

This next clue sends teams to the High Level Bridge streetcar. It seems they have to find a specific spot where they can board the streetcar. They will then have to take a short ride. Inside the car they will find the double one way board and their next clue.

As he exits the store Thinesh takes giant steps in order to take as few steps as possible.
 "This is a very stupid idea", Aarthy about Thinesh's long steps

Teams reach the streetcar (14min 7km) in the following order:
 1(+1) Dave & Irina
 2(-1) Aarthy & Thinesh
 3(+?) Anthony & James
 4(+?) Lauren & Joanne, one ways Trish & Amy to do Celebrate
 5(+?) Sarah & Sam, one ways Gilles & Sean to do Celebrate
 6(+?) Trish & Amy
 7(+?) Gilles & Sean
 8(+?) Meaghan & Marie

Quote
Detour: "Celebrate" or
"Elevate"

Celebrate: Join the
Kokopellu Choir as it
celebrates an African
song arrangement to
receive your next clue.

Elevate: Ride up and
down the 100 Street
Funicular until you have
correctly recreated two
images of downtown
Edmonton to receive
your next clue.

In celebrate teams must make their way to the Royal Alberta Museum where they will perform with the Kokopelli choir. Teams must learn both the lyrics and the choreography for a medley.

In elevate teams have to complete two nearly identical photo puzzles. One at the top and one at the bottom of the funicular. Pieces from the puzzles are split between the top and the bottom locations and teams may only bring one piece each time they ride the funicular.

 "We'll let the peasants fight for last place", Dave gets the quote when explaining why they did not use the one way

 "Ah, they are all corner pieces", Aarthy HAD a strategy to solve the puzzle
 "We are great at puzzles but not great at dancing", Sean
 
Teams complete the detour in the following order:
 1(+0) Dave & Irina, elevate
 2(+0) Aarthy & Thinesh, elevate
 3(+0) Anthony & James, elevate
 4(+1) Sarah & Sam, elevate
 5(-1) Lauren & Joanne, elevate
 6(+?) Meaghan & Marie, celebrate which they got on their 2nd attempt
 7(+?) Trish & Amy, celebrate (were one wayed) got it on their 5th attempt
 8(+?) Gilles & Sean, celebrate (were one wayed) got it on their 4th attempt

The next clue sends teams to Old Strathcona Antique Mall (~10min) where teams have to search for Jon inside to receive their next clue. They are told that they must find Jon inside and show him to the woman at the counter to get their next clue. What they do not know is that they need to find a bobble head version of Jon.

Some teams get creative. Dave & Irina find an old record with John Lennon but that is not accepted. Trish & Amy find a magazine about the Olympics with a picture of Jon inside it. Unfortunately this is also not accepted.

 "There's so much stuff here, it's insane", Thinesh

Teams find bobble head Jon in the following order:
 1(+0) Dave & Irina
 2(+0) Aarthy & Thinesh
 3(+1) Sarah & Sam, found Jon in seconds
 4(-1) Anthony & James
 5(+0) Lauren & Joanne, found Jon in about 10 minutes
 6(+1) Trish & Amy
 7(-1) Meaghan & Marie
 8(+0) Gilles & Sean

The next clue sends teams to the Kurimoto Japanese garden where they need to find the Ozawa pavilion.

Teams find their clue by the Ozawa pavilion (32min 35km) in the following order:
 1(+0) Dave & Irina
 2(+0) Aarthy & Thinesh
 3(+1) Anthony & James
 4(+1) Lauren & Joanne
 5(-2) Sarah & Sam
 6(+0) Trish & Amy
 7(+0) Meaghan & Marie
 8(+0) Gilles & Sean

Road block: Who is feeling icky?

Racers must now duplicate an elaborate Japanese flower arrangement. There is a silent demonstration they can watch. The tricky part seems to be that things the judge will look at include:
 1. that the flowers are at the correct height.
 2. that the flowers may not touch each other.
 3. that their work station is clean.
These things are not all that apparent in the demonstration. And as usual teams get no indication about what they are doing wrong by the judge.

 "I have done some flower arranging before but this looks very attentionate to details", Irina

Trish meet Sam in the waiting area and asks him point blank if they were the ones who one wayed them. Sam says i was not them.

Amy is close to getting it but she has forgotten to clean her work station. And when she cleans she misses one small leaf and it takes a while for her to see that one. Gilles also misses that he needs to clean his work station.

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the road block):
1(+0)Dave & Irina*    (2-2)
2(+0)Aarthy & Thinesh*(2-2)
3(+1)Lauren* & Joanne (2-2)
4(-1)Anthony* & James (2-2)
5(+0)Sarah* & Sam     (2-2)
6(+1)Meaghan* & Marie (2-2)
7(-1)Trish & Amy*     (2-2)On her 18th attempt
8(+0)Gilles* & Sean   (2-2)On his 12th attempt

Quote
ROUTE INFO

Search the grounds for
the Agar Khan Garden to
find Jon at your next Pit
Stop.

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

The show is edited to make teams look at lot closer than they probably were. But it seems that the two teams on the first flight never even saw any of the other teams in Edmonton. I would not be surprised if they had checked in with Jon before the second flight even landed.

Teams check in with Jon in the following order:
 1(+0) Dave & Irina, win a trip to Casablanca
 2(+0) Aarthy & Thinesh
 3(+1) Anthony & James
 4(-1) Lauren & Joanne, just after #3
 5(+0) Sarah & Sam
 6(+0) Meaghan & Marie
 7(+0) Trish & Amy
 8(+0) Gilles & Sean, are eliminated

At the mat when Anthony & James and Lauren & Joanne were there Jon decided to ask if any of them have used the one way. I find this a bit strange since it was supposed to be blind.

 "Every time we think of this we're gonna have real joy in our hearts", Gilles

After the elimination Jon collects the remaining teams and announce that Lauren & Joanne won the step counter challenge with 5241 steps.

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Re: TAR Canada 7 Racing report, episode #4
« Reply #4 on: August 05, 2019, 03:14:23 AM »
Racing report
Amazing Race Canada Season 7, Episode 4, "I Love Geologists"
Film dates: 2019-04-29 - 2019-04-30

The last pit stop was at the Kurimoto Japanese garden, Edmonton. Teams will depart from somewhere else in Edmonton in the following order:
1.Dave & Irina    02:26
2.Aarthy & Thinesh02:50+0:24
3.Anthony & James 04:29+2:03
4.Lauren & Joanne 04:30+2:04
5.Sarah & Sam     05:02+2:36
6.Meaghan & Marie 06:36+4:10
7.Trish & Amy     07:27+5:01

Route info: Fly to Yellowknife, NT. Teams get $250 for this leg of the race.

 "We have an express pass, we'll try to be strategic about using it", some foreshadowing from Irina
 "I hope we're gonna see some penguins", Irina is either clueless or sarcastic
 "My biggest fear on this race was being cold", Sarah does not look forward to this leg

All teams are on the same flight from Edmonton to Yellowknife. Once they land then need to make their way to Somba k'e Civic Plaza. Here they must find a 6 meter high sculpture and that is where they will find their next clue.

As teams land we get a text that the local temperature is -21°C. Production has been nice and provided everybody with winter clothes (marked with Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary).

When they land teams quickly realize that there are not that many cabs in Yellowknife. Only the first 4 teams managed to get one right away at the airport, the others must scramble. Eventually all get into cabs in the following order:
 1. Sarah & Sam
 2. Dave & Irina
 3. Meaghan & Marie
 4. Anthony & James
 5. Aarthy & Thinesh
 6. Trish & Amy
 7. Lauren & Joanne

Teams get the clue at the civic plaza (8min 6km) in the following order:
 1(+0) Sarah & Sam
 2(+0) Dave & Irina
 3(+2) Aarthy & Thinesh
 4(-1) Meaghan & Marie
 5(-1) Anthony & James
 6(+0) Trish & Amy
 7(+0) Lauren & Joanne

Route info: Make your way to Rotary Park and then drive a snowmobile across the great slave lake to find your next clue.

Dave & Irina does not think of asking their cab to wait, they soon realize this is a big mistake as cabs a few and far between in Yellowknife. Eventually they steal Trish & Amy's cab.
 "We're gonna pay you double", Irina to the driver

At the Rotary Park (5min 2km) teams find snowmobiles and they do not seem to have any problems finding the clue box on the ice. They reach it in the following order:
 1(+0) Sarah & Sam
 2(+2) Meaghan & Marie
 3(+0) Aarthy & Thinesh
 4(+1) Anthony & James
 5(+1) Trish & Amy
 6(-4) Dave & Irina
 7(+0) Lauren & Joanne

Here teams must go ice fishing. This includes drilling a hole, clearing the ice around the hole and the slush from the hole. Finally they must put a fish on the hook and place it in the hole.

Teams complete this task in the following order:
 1(+0) Sarah & Sam
 2(+0) Meaghan & Marie
 3(+1) Anthony & James
 4(+2) Dave & Irina
 5(-2) Aarthy & Thinesh
 6(-1) Trish & Amy
 7(+0) Lauren & Joanne

Road block: Who likes hard rock?

This road block takes place at the NTW Diamond Centre. Here racers will be presented with 7 diamonds. They will need to use a jewelers Lupe to find Canadian symbol on six of them, use a tool to get the identification number and they must place the diamonds in weight order.

First teams drive their snowmobiles back to Rotary Park and then they go by cab to the road block location (3min 1km). This time Dave & Irina steal the cab from Aarthy & Thinesh.
 "Oh my god we just made enemies, but it is about surviving here", Dave

Lauren & Joanne also have taxi trouble since their cab has left when they get back.

 "I'm a little glad I'm doing this because I need some experience with diamonds, I think she's expecting one soon", Thinesh

The last two teams at this task both struggle. Anthony has their express pass ready and Amy spots this so she know they have one. Then Trish gets it and Anthony immediately present their express pass.

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the road block):
1(+2)Dave* & Irina    (3-2)
2(-1)Sarah & Sam*     (2-3)
3(+2)Aarthy & Thinesh*(2-3)
4(+3)Lauren* & Joanne (3-2)
5(-3)Meaghan & Marie* (2-3)
6(+0)Trish* & Amy     (3-2)
7(-4)Anthony & James* (2-3)

Route info: Make your way Great Slave Lake and search for your next clue out on the ice. The clue actually specifies that they need to make their way to the dock at the end of Robertson drive.

On their way Dave & Irina wonder what they will need to do on the frozen lake.
 "Dave is down for whatever, it's me that's the princess which doesn't want to do anything", Irina

Teams have no problem finding the clue box on the ice (6min 3km).

Quote
ROAD BLOCK
Who wants a cold one?

NOTE: The team
member who did not
perform the last Road
Block must attempt this
one.

In this road block players must suit up and swim under the ice from one small opening to the next. The distance between the holes is about 2 meters, but the ice is 1 meter thick. They must also grab a clue before they surface.

The task is not as dangerous as it sounds since the racers are attached to a rope which goes from one hole to the next and there are divers under the ice. There are also tents for the racers to change in. Nevertheless it is cold outside and the water is not exactly balmy.

Dave & Irina immediately use their express pass on this task so they can continue racing without Irina needing to get her feet wet.

 "My worst fear is being cold and being in water", Sarah is about to experience both
 "Why do I keep getting the hard ones", Aarthy is not happy about this task

The instructor tells each contestant to begin by dunking their face into the icy water as this will make the whole task a lot easier.

 "I hated that", Sarah, after she did the task

Aarthy actually fails the first time she tries the swim. She gives up before she descended through the ice. Thinesh asks if she wants to use their express pass, but she relents and on the next attempt she completes the swim.

 "I never knew you were this strong", Thinesh to Aarthy after she did the swim

We learn that Lauren & Joanne do speed swimming so Joanne breezes through this task.

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the road block):
1(+0)Dave & Irina*    (3-3)Used their express pass
2(+0)Sarah* & Sam     (3-3)
3(+0)Aarthy* & Thinesh(3-3)
4(+0)Lauren & Joanne* (3-3)
5(+0)Meaghan* & Marie (3-3)
6(+0)Trish & Amy*     (3-3)
7(+0)Anthony* & James (3-3)

Route info: Make your way to Air Tindi Float base to find your next clue.

At the Air Tindi float base (11min 5km) teams are given four maps. They must then locate 10 different rescue sites specified as a latitude and longitude on these maps and write down the name of the lake at that position. It seems each team get a unique set of coordinates.

To make matters more interesting this task takes place outside. And the temperature is still around -21°C. As a nice gesture each work station comes with a table and a few rocks which can be used to weigh down the corners of the maps so they do not blow away.

As usual the first step is to get to the task location. Most teams have no trouble but Trish & Amy's taxi has left, even though they asked him to wait, so they loose a lot of time waiting for a new cab.

 "Reading maps is a bit tricky for us. We're millennial's we've got GPS all day", Sarah

On their way to the task Sarah & Sam stop at a small store and look up what latitude and longitude is.

Dave & Irina have no clue how to solve this so they decide to take the 2h penalty. They will have to wait that out at the pit stop.

 "65° 43´ North, shoot I have no idea what that comma means", Sarah struggles
 "It's outside, are you joking me?", Aarthy arrives to the task
 "This is like 3rd grade geometry right here", Aarthy as Thinesh picks out the places on the map

Sarah & Sam struggle with this task and even though they checked what latitude and longitude is before they go to there they still are unable to make sense of the task. They decide to go for help so they go back to their taxi and drive to the a nearby building (1km). This turns out to be a geology department and people there are good at reading maps. Sarah & Sam quickly get help by a geologist who shows them how to find the coordinates on the map. Once they learn how to do the task they go back to the Air Tindi float base and find all the coordinates.
 "Should've listened in high school geometry a bit more", Sarah

 "I'm definitely feeling the pressure a little bit", Sam as a pair of teams have left
 "Do you know what I'm not feeling? My hands", Sarah, the temperature is now -23°C

Teams complete this task in the following order:
 1(+0) Dave & Irina, took the 2h penalty
 2(+1) Aarthy & Thinesh
 3(+2) Meaghan & Marie
 4(-2) Sarah & Sam
 5(-1) Lauren & Joanne
 6(+1) Anthony & James
 7(-1) Trish & Amy, just after #6

The next clue tells teams to board one of the planes and fly to Dene First Nation Community Dettah where they will find Jon and their next pit stop.

But before teams can take off they must pay their cabs. And this is a problem for Sarah & Sam as their bill is $245 and they only have $155. They decide to go back to the geology department and ask for some money. And it turns out that the geologists are generous, the first guy they ask give them $65 and they quickly get the rest of the money they need.
 "I love geologists", Sam gets the title

Teams reach Jon and the mat in the following order:
 - Dave & Irina, have to wait out their 2h penalty
 1(+1) Aarthy & Thinesh, win a trip to Dublin, Ireland
 2(+1) Meaghan & Marie
 3(-2) Dave & Irina
 4(+0) Sarah & Sam
 5(+0) Lauren & Joanne
 6(+0) Anthony & James
 7(+0) Trish & Amy, are saved by a non elimination


Offline maf

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Re: TAR Canada 7 Racing report, episode #5
« Reply #5 on: August 05, 2019, 12:23:44 PM »
Racing report
Amazing Race Canada Season 7, Episode 5, "Clamgeddon continues"
Film dates: 2019-05-01 - 2019-05-02

The last pit stop was at Dene First Nation Community Dettah on the Great Slave Lake. Teams are released from in from of the Northern Heritage Center in Yellowknife (this is close to where season 4 started) in the following order:
1.Aarthy & Thinesh08:35
2.Meaghan & Marie 08:51+0:16
3.Dave & Irina    09:08+0:33
4.Sarah & Sam     09:19+0:46
5.Lauren & Joanne 09:22+0:49
6.Anthony & James 09:39+1:04
7.Trish & Amy     10:00+1:25

Route info: Fly to the Nanaimo, BC.

We learn that Sam does a lot of mentorship work for school kids and he wants to win this leg.

At the airport everybody seem to be glad when the non-eliminated teams Trish & Amy turns up, that is everybody but Dave & Irina.

All teams are on the same flight to Vancouver via Edmonton. Once they land in Vancouver they must make their way to the Harbor air terminal in downtown Vancouver where they must sign up to one of four seaplane flights which will land 15 minutes apart in Nanaimo, BC.

There is the usual taxi race and for once Dave & Irina are last.
 "I'm ready to give up, like I don't want to do this anymore", Irina does not like being in the back

Teams end up on the following flights:
Flight #1
  Aarthy & Thinesh

Flight #2
  Anthony & James, got to the sign up board one second after Aarthy & Thinesh
  Trish & Amy

Flight #3
  Lauren & Joanne
  Sarah & Sam

Flight #4
  Dave & Irina
  Meaghan & Marie

During the flight we learn that James is a doctor and did his residency on Vancouver island.

Everybody seem to enjoy the flight except Sam who is afraid of heights and Dave & Irina who are stressed because they are not first.

Once teams land they pick up a nice sponsor sports car and drive themselves to Petroglyph provincial park.

Teams arrive to the park in the following order:
 1. Aarthy & Thinesh
 2. Anthony & James
 3. Trish & Amy
 ?. Sarah & Sam
 ?. Lauren & Joanne
 ?. Meaghan & Marie
 ?. Dave & Irina

Here we find some product placement, this time from the movie Dora and the lost city of gold. They get a video clue from the main star of the film. There is also a backpack and a bunch of stuff. The video clue just tells them that the next clue is in the backpack.

Next to the pack is a bunch of stuff and teams must pack everything in the bag. The items include:
 * gloves
 * a yo-yo
 * a head lamp
 * a bunch of carrots
 * a whiteboard with 11 lines on it (5+2+4)
 * a tooth
 * a map

Once the bag is packed they must make their way to Wild Play element parks. Here teams must gear up and get strapped in. One of them will have to bungee jump and the other does a tandem primal swing. Just before they jump they have 60 seconds to memorize the ingredients of the famous Nanaimo bar.
  TOP LAYER
 Semi-sweet Chocolate
 Unsalted Butter

  MIDDLE LAYER
 Unsalted Butter
 Cream
 Vanilla Custard Powder
 Icing Sugar

  BOTTOM LAYER
 Unsalted Butter
 Sugar
 Cocoa
 Egg Beaten
 Graham Wafer Crumbs
 Finely Chopped Almonds
 Coconut

At the bottom they must correctly recite the ingredients in each layer to get their next clue. If they fail they have to go again.

 "I don't cook man, I don't know what's in a Nanaimo bar", Aarthy
 "Is there a barf bag included in this?", Anthony
 "Do you want to just triple check that one", Sam wants his harness to be checked again as he is afraid of heights

Once done it seams each team get two Nanaimo bars.

Teams complete this task in the following order:
 1(+2) Trish & Amy, on their 1st attempt
 2(+0) Anthony & James, on their 1st attempt
 3(-2) Aarthy & Thinesh, on their 2nd attempt
 4(+?) Sarah & Sam, on their 2nd attempt
 5(+?) Dave & Irina, on their 1st attempt
 6(+?) Meaghan & Marie, on their 1st attempt
 7(+?) Lauren & Joanne, on their 3rd attempt

Route info: Drive yourselves to the Deep bay marine field station and search outside for your next clue.

Reaching the marine station seems to be pretty easy for all teams but Lauren & Joanne. There has been an accident and the police has closed the only access road so they have to wait for a while before they can continue.

At the field station Trish & Amy find their speed bump. They must assemble a 37 piece model skeleton of an Orca whale. The pieces are spread out on the floor. The task is made easier by the fact that they get a drawing of the skeleton and each piece is numbered. A niece detail is that one of the bones they need to use is the tooth they got with their Dora packs. The task does not take too long and only Anthony & James pass them while they are doing it.

The clue at the marine field station is a route info and tells teams to dig for clams on the nearby sea shore. There is a reference board and some samples so teams can correctly identify four different type of shellfish. They must collect:
 5 Butter clams
 30 Manila Clams
 30 Pacific oysters
 30 Mahogany clams

Each team gets waders, a basket and two shovels. They all quickly realize that it is a good idea to put on the gloves from the Dora backpack.

As one could guess the Butter clams are harder to find.

 "Oh my god, I'm so sorry people have to listen to him", James about Anthony's singing while he is digging for clams

Dave & Irina have a slightly different approach to this task than the others. Dave is digging and Irina seems to do nothing.
 "I don't like hard work, not for me", Irina
After about 1.5h Dave & Irina decide to take the penalty and leave.

Initially Dave & Irina's decision to take the penalty inspires the other teams to work together to defeat them. But that soon falls apart as tree more teams decide to take the penalty.

After 3+ hours on the task the tide start to come in which makes the task harder. But the two remaining teams stick with it.
 "They just bought us 2 hours", Thinesh as Meaghan & Marie took the penalty

Aarthy & Thinesh talk abut the express pass but decide to not use it.
 "This is actually the challenge from hell", Aarthy

Eventually the last two teams decide to work together. And when Aarthy & Thinesh find their last Butter clam they do not leave bu instead go back and help Anthony & James to find their last ones.
 "Clamageddon continues", James gets the title

The last two teams spends more than 4 hours 37 minutes on this task.

Teams leave this challenge in the following order:
 1(+4) Dave & Irina, gave up and took the 2h penalty
 2(+5) Lauren & Joanne, gave up and took the 2h penalty
 3(+1) Sarah & Sam
 4(-3) Trish & Amy, gave up and took the 2h penalty
 5(+1) Meaghan & Marie, gave up and took the 2h penalty
 6(-3) Aarthy & Thinesh
 7(-5) Anthony & James

Quote
ROAD BLOCK

Who's the photog on
your team?

Teams must make their way to Horn Lakes caves provincial park. Here they will find a Huawei P30 phone. They must take this phone into one of the caves where they must search for 11 letters hidden in different cracks and crevices. They should then take pictures of them with their phone. Finally they go out and use the board they got at the start of the leg they have to descramble the letters to form three words. All they know is that the words have 5, 2 and 4 letters and spells the location of the pit stop. Once they snap a picture of the correct phrase the Park director will give them their next clue.

The words they should form are: "GOATS ON ROOF".

Dave is the first one there and he quickly finds 10 letters in the cave. He decides to try to solve the puzzle with what he has, but find himself stuck.
 "I hate mixing up letters", Dave

Meanwhile the next two teams turn up and Sarah and Lauren decide to work together.

Dave resorts to some unconventional methods to solve this road block. First he creeps up on Sarah and Lauren to see which letters they have. He asks to work with them but is turned down. He then tries to work with Trish, but she remembers who stole their cab in Yellowknife so she also turns him down. Then Trish gets the answer but she has left her board open so Dave goes there and photographs it before erasing all text to stop other teams from repeating what he just did. Trish spots him and is upset but can not really do anything.

While driving to the spelunking task Anthony thinks it over and starts looking through their Dora backpack. When he finds the carrots James, who has lived in the area, suggests that it perhaps is goats on roof. Once they arrive they tell Aarthy & Thinesh and both teams try this answer before even entering the cave. Since it is correct this turns into a very quick road block for them.
 "They literally just arrive here so I'm confused how they just left", Marie to stunned

1(+3)Trish* & Amy     (4-3)
2(-1)Dave* & Irina    (4-3)
3(-1)Lauren* & Joanne (4-3)
4(-1)Sarah* & Sam     (4-3)
5(+1)Aarthy* & Thinesh(4-3)
6(+1)Anthony* & James (4-3)
7(-2)Meaghan & Marie* (3-4)

Teams must now drive to the town of Coombs and locate the famous Goats on the roof at the old country market.

While driving Trish tells Amy that Dave stole her answer they are upset and call him cheater. Meanwhile Dave tells Irina and justifies by saying that the others were working together against him. Irina promises to snap at them if they bring it up.

Teams reach the pit stop in the following order:
 -. Trish & Amy, have to serve their 2h penalty
 1(+3) Sara & Sam win a trip to Manchu Pichu
 -. Dave & Irina, 7 minutes after Trish & Amy, have to serve their 2h penalty
 -. Lauren & Joanne, 8 minutes after Trish & Amy, have to serve their 2h penalty
  2(+3) Aarthy & Thinesh
  2(+4) Anthony & James
 -. Meaghan & Marie, have to serve their 2h penalty
  4(-3) Trish & Amy
  5(-3) Dave & Irina
  6(-3) Lauren & Joanne
  7(+0) Meaghan & Marie, are eliminated

 "They're ganging up against us, we're here with these peasants and we're gonna have to deal with them", Irina has an interesting take on the other teams

Aarthy & Thinesh and Anthony & James do their best to step on the mat simultaneously. When Jon asks Aarthy explains that they did not want anybody who did not give up to go home.
 "Karma is a beautiful thing", Aarthy about the help from Anthony during the road block

After Meaghan & Marie have arrived at the mat Jon calls the other waiting teams there and tell them their placement (they all took penalties). He then tells Meaghan & Marie that they are eliminated. Trish & Amy and Lauren & Joanne immediately go over to hug them while Dave & Irina just stands there.

 "This race brought us together more than I ever could've imagine", Meaghan

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Re: TAR Canada 7 Racing report, episode #6
« Reply #6 on: August 24, 2019, 04:15:58 PM »
Racing report
Amazing Race Canada Season 7, Episode 6, "I'm a Little Muskrat on a Mission"
Film dates: 2019-05-04 - 2019-05-05

The last put stop was a goats on the roof in Coombs, Vancouver Island. Teams are released from the Nanaimo harbor in the following order:
1.Sarah & Sam     06:18
2.Aarthy & Thinesh07:02+0:44
2.Anthony & James 07:02+0:44
4.Trish & Amy     08:13+1:55
5.Dave & Irina    08:19+2:01
6.Lauren & Joanne 08:20+2:02

The first clue tells teams to fly to Saskatoon, SK.

Lauren & Joanne are happy since they are going home.
 "I can't wait for flat ground",

All teams meet up at the airport and they have time to talk so there is a minor blowup. Dave & Irina start offensively by saying that in the last leg it felt like all the other teams worked together to eliminated them and that did not feel good. They are surprised when Anthony admits that people had a common cause for a moment. Trish fires back that Dave copied her answers without asking in the last road block. Dave admits that and the other teams are shocked.

The scene ends with Aarthy getting upset and Irina mocking her. Even though they hug it out Thinesh removes Aarthy from the situation and calms her down.
 "Thinesh and I always help people so I accept your apology, but No Irina you mocked me. It's not cool, I forgive you bet I'm not gonna forget.", Aarthy

All teams are on the same flight from Nanaimo via Calgary to Saskatoon. Once they land they must make their way to Canada's brightest light at the University of Saskatchewan.

Something has been left out of the episode here since it is dark outside when teams land and jump into the taxis but it is morning when they arrive to the next route marker. I assume they arrived and found a hours of operations and had to pick numbers determining in which order they may go and fetch the clue inside the following day.

The visit at the light source seems to be mostly a bit of product placement showing that Canada has cool science. We can also see that the additional instructions forbids them from running inside the facility as they instead walk hurriedly up to the clue box one team at a time.

Route info: "It's curtains for you"

Teams must now make their way to the Nutrien Cory Potash Mine.

Once at the mine they must suit up and take an elevator 1000m down into the mine. Here they will hang plastic ventilation curtains. They have to use a special tool to nail them to the ceiling. Once the curtains have been hanged correctly they will get their next clue.

Getting to the mine seems to be easier said than done. Sarah & Sam's taxi driver say it is 60km away while Anthony & James driver say 10km.

Teams seem to ride the elevator down into to the mine in the following order:
 1. Anthony & James
 1. Lauren & Joanne
 3. Dave & Irina
 3. Trish & Amy
 5. Sarah & Sam
 5. Aarthy & Thinesh

 "I hate the outfits, they're very not figure flattering", Irina about the mining gear
 "We're sweating like grease monkeys, it's a good day", Joanne

As usual Dave & Irina divide the work so that Dave does everything and Irina hand him stuff. It seems Aarthy & Thinesh use the same division of duties.

Towards the end Aarthy & Thinesh get stressed when they realize they are the only ones left. They still have an express pass but do not use it.

Teams complete this task in the following order:
 1(+0) Anthony & James
 2(-1) Lauren & Joanne
 3(+2) Sarah & Sam
 4(-1) Dave & Irina
 5(-2) Trish & Amy
 6(-1) Aarthy & Thinesh

Teas must now make their way to the local Shell station. Here they will be given a tablet with a video greeting from home. Teams reach this in the following order:
 1(+0) Anthony & James
 2(+0) Lauren & Joanne
 3(+0) Sarah & Sam
 4(+0) Dave & Irina
 5(+0) Trish & Amy
 6(+0) Aarthy & Thinesh

The relatives in the video also tell them to make their way to Champêtre county vacation ranch and search outside the Howling Coyote saloon for their next clue.

On their way to the ranch Joanne comments that she likes Saskatchewan because she can see down the road for a couple of kilometers and there is nobody behind them.

Teams arrive at the ranch in the following order:
 1(+0) Anthony & James
 2(+0) Lauren & Joanne
 3(+0) Sarah & Sam
 4(+0) Dave & Irina, as #1 are leaving
 5(+0) Trish & Amy
 6(+0) Aarthy & Thinesh

Quote
Detour:
"Dance in a Square" or
"Walk in Circles"

Dance in a Square:
One of you joins the
square dancers while the
other one calls the
dance to receive your
next clue.

Walk in Circles:
Search a 7,5000 square
foot maze to collect 4
ears of corn, then reach
the exit to receive your
next clue.

For the dancing there are 19 moves to call and the racers must memorize all of them. This turns out to be harder than learning the actual dance moves.

The maze is large but not that complicated. We do get to see a lot of drone footage of the teams in it and it seems as if the old strategy of always turning left or always turning right would work just fine.
 "It's big but it's not that big", Dave about the maze

One interesting thing about the drone shots is that you see that the cameraman is following the team but a little bit back, at times it looks like they may loose their teams in the maze.

Sarah & Sam initially try to draw the maze on a piece of paper but that quickly falls through.

Dave & Irina initially go for dance but when Dave gets to see the list of calls he have to memorize he balks and they switch to the maze.

 "Follow me, I'm a little muskrat on a mission", Aarthy gets the title while in the maze

Amy has a severe hearing problem and she can not really hear what the caller says so she has to spend some more effort to memorize the moves. She still does much better than Trish who struggles with memorizing the calls.
 "We want to show our kids there is no failure in trying", Amy on why they do not give up

We also learn that Trish has battled with her weight for her entire life but after her 3rd child she started running and she lost about 100lb.

 "I actually hate mazes, they look fun but they're not", Aarthy

The maze is quite frustrating for some teams. Lauren & Joanne actually talk about switching, and that is after they have found all corn and are just looking for the exit.

Aarthy is also very stressed and starts talking about using the express pass, and this also after they have found all corn and are looking for the exit. But Thinesh keeps his calm and gets them out of there. And once they are done they see that there is still one other taxi left so they are not last.
 "That was the maze from hell", Aarthy in the taxi afterwards
 "How do you think so clearly?[\i]", Aarthy recognize that Thinesh just saved them

Teams complete the detour in the following order:
 1(+0) Anthony & James, maze
 2(+1) Sarah & Sam, maze
 3(+1) Dave & Irina, started dance but switched to maze
 4(-2) Lauren & Joanne, maze
 5(+1) Aarthy & Thinesh, maze
 6(-1) Trish & Amy, dance on their 4th attempt

Quote
ROUTE INFO

Everyone should have
goals.

Join a Saskatchewan
Rush lacrosse practice as
you pass, catch and
shoot on goal to hit the
targets before your time
runs out.

This task takes place in Victoria Park.

On their way from the maze Dave spots a pig standing by the path and stops to pet it.

In this task one team member must pass the ball to their team mate who must catch it and shoot it at a net and hit one of four targets. There is a practice area where teams can get a feel for it first.

The clue says there is a time limit but this is never mentioned in the episode apart from a text at one time "1st attempt". I therefore assume that the time limit did not really make a difference.

 "He thinks I didn't play sports but I played sports. Cheerleading is a sport", Anthony

On their way to the Lacrosse Sam say that this is their thing. Sarah points out that she got cut from every single team in grade 9, and that is why she now runs the hurdles. Surprisingly enough, once at the practice area it turns t that Sarah is much better at hitting the targets so she gets that job.

Trish & Amy arrive to the lacrosse area as Aarthy & Thinesh are still practicing. So we all hope for an exciting fight to avoid last place. But Aarthy & Thinesh kill the suspense by soon completing the task.

Of course the editing makes it look like Trish & Amy also get it quickly but you can tell that they do not feel that their hearts are not really in the chase and they do not feel that they can catch up. And in the next episode we learn that they were about 40 minutes behind.

Teams complete this task in the following order:
 1(+0) Anthony & James
 2(+0) Sarah & Sam
 3(+0) Dave & Irina
 4(+0) Lauren & Joanne
 5(+0) Aarthy & Thinesh
 6(+0) Trish & Amy

Route info: "Make your way on foot to the Remai modern art museum and find Jon at your next pit stop."

We get the usual editing for the last two teams where the leading one seems to struggle and the trailing one just runs ahead. The experienced race watcher knows that the odds that the editors are trying to fool us are high and that turns indeed out to be the case here as well.

Teams find Jon and the mat at the roof of the museum in the following order:
 1(+0) Anthony & James, win a trip to Costa Rica plus free gas for a year
 2(+0) Sarah & Sam
 3(+0) Dave & Irina, shortly after #2
 4(+0) Lauren & Joanne
 5(+0) Aarthy & Thinesh
 6(+0) Trish & Amy, are saved by a non elimination

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Re: TAR Canada 7 Racing report, episode #7
« Reply #7 on: August 26, 2019, 02:24:35 AM »
Racing report
Amazing Race Canada Season 7, Episode 7, "Balls, balls, balls"
Film dates: 2019-05-06 - 2019-05-07

The last put stop was on the rooftop terrace of Remai Modern in Saskatoon, SK. Teams are released from the nearby Kiwanis memorial park in the following order:
1.Anthony & James 03:29
2.Sarah & Sam     04:01+0:32
3.Dave & Irina    04:06+0:37
4.Lauren & Joanne 04:27+0:58
5.Aarthy & Thinesh04:33+1:04
6.Trish & Amy     05:14+1:45

Route info: Fly to Toronto, Ontario. Once there board a bus to your next destination.

Aarthy & Thinesh still have their express pass and this leg is the last leg they can use it on.

At the airport the other teams are a bit frustrated that Trish & Amy were yet again saved by a non elimination and they feel that they can not get rid of them.

All teams are on the same flight from Saskatoon to Toronto.

When they land they have to make their way to the Delta hotel (6km) where they can sign up for one of two buses to a mystery destination. After the first two teams the next three teams arrive to the board almost at once and there is a bit of a kerfuffle. We get to see an instant replay showing who grabbed the pen first.

Teams reach the sign up board in the following order:
Bus #1:
 1. Dave & Irina
 2. Anthony & James
 3. Trish & Amy
Bus #2:
 4. Sarah & Sam, 1 second after #3
 5. Lauren & Joanne, just after #4
 6. Aarthy & Thinesh

The buses takes teams 100km to Kitchener-Waterloo. But the teams do not know that as the windows of the buses have been blacked out. The buses depart 10 minutes apart.

Once teams step out of the bus they see the next clue box. Teams reach it in the following order:
 1. Dave & Irina
 2. Anthony & James
 3. Trish & Amy
 4. Sarah & Sam
 5. Aarthy & Thinesh
 6. Lauren & Joanne

Route info: "A whole new ball game". Teams must now make their way to TheMuseum and find a giant ball pit. The pit contains more than 30,000 green balls. One team member at a time may dive in and try to find one of the 12 read or yellow balls in the pit.

 "I'm trying to channel our little dog Lucy", James while looking for balls
 "Balls, balls, balls", Sarah & Sam gets the title

Sarah & Sam are the only ones who seems to struggle. They switch back and forth a few times.

Teams find one of the race colored balls in the following order:
 1(+0) Anthony & James
 2(+0) Dave & Irina
 3(+0) Trish & Amy
 4(+1) Aarthy & Thinesh
 5(+1) Lauren & Joanne
 6(-2) Sarah & Sam

Once they have completed this task Trish & Amy get their speed bump clue. They must jump into a sponsor car and drive to the University of Waterloo. Once there they must get into an autonomous vehicle and follow along for a ride. When done the operator will give them their next clue.

All other teams get a detour clue: Beer fest or robot quest

In Beer fest team make their way to the Concordia club. Here they choose a table of 10 guests and take their beer orders. While they pour the beers the guests get up and dance and when they sit down again they will have switched seats. Teams must give the correct beer to each dancer.

In robot quest teams make their way to the University of Waterloo. Their task here is to guide a robot through a maze. One player sits at a remote computer and controls the robot by pushing buttons like "forward", "turn left" and "move right". The other racer is by the maze and can see the action. They will have to communicate via walkie talky. Also once teams have started the task they may not switch roles.

Unfortunately nobody chooses the beer fest, even though it is closer.

 "This is like driving blind", James while controlling a robot he can not see

 "Normally when we drive I'm the one that gives directions so this is a little bit concerning", Thinesh as Aarthy goes to the maze
And it tuns out that Aarthy is not really good at giving directions in this case. She acts as if Thinesh can see the robot and says things like position yourself straight.
 "Do I need to go left or right?", Thinesh
 "You need to go straight', Aarthy

 "Keep going forward, straight, straight, straight", Anthony
 "It's all feeling very hetro normative, I don't like it", James

 "I even got robot hands tattooed on me so I've got the robot power", Joanne is stoked

Teams complete the detour in the following order:
 1(+0) Anthony & James, robot quest
 2(+0) Dave & Irina, robot quest
 3(+3) Sarah & Sam, robot quest
 4(+0) Aarthy & Thinesh, robot quest
 5(+0) Lauren & Joanne, robot quest
 6(-3) Trish & Amy, robot quest

Quote
FACE OFF

It's time for a Face Off!

Compete against
another team in a
Dempster's tortilla
cooking competition to
earn your next clue.

In this face off teams get to look at a finished dish for 1 minute and then they have 15 minutes to recreate it, without any recipe. A judge will determine which teams got closest to the finished example. The loosing team must face off against the next team.

There are three dishes available. In the first match the team which got there first get to choose which one to make and in the subsequent matches is it the team which lost the previous match which gets to choose. Each dish can only be made two times. The dishes are:
 * a tortilla falafel wrap
 * tortilla rolls with fruit
 * a tortilla pizza

 "Wow it's like a ghost town of cabs", Sarah is having a hard time finding a taxi

The order in which teams get to compete is determined by the order they put on the required apron and cap. Aarthy & Thinesh manage to do this one second before Sarah & Sam.

 "One of us does not cook", Thinesh about his partner

In the final match Lauren & Joanne cook off against the moms Trish & Amy. The moms want to get even since Lauren & Joanne used the one-way on them earlier in the race so the heat is on. In the end Trish & Amy put way too much cheese on their pizza so Lauren & Joanne win the face off.

Teams lave the face off in the following order:
 1(+1) Dave & Irina, make a better wrap that Anthony & James (at 14:10)
 2(-1) Anthony & James, make a better wrap than Aarthy & Thinesh (at 14:50)
 3(+0) Aarthy & Thinesh, made a better fruit tortilla plate than Sarah & Sam (at 15:30)
 4(+0) Sarah & Sam,  made a better fruit tortilla plate than Lauren & Joanne (at 16:05)
 5(+0) Lauren & Joanne, make a better tortilla pizza than Trish * Amy (at 16:57)
 6(+0) Trish & Amy, have to wait for the sand in a time glass to run out

The next clue directs teams to the Perimeter institute of theoretical physics.

At the institute teams must calculate a height by dropping a tennis ball and timing its fall. They can then use the equation t = sqrt((2d)/g) to calculate the height. The height has to be  converted to feet. Teams will get approved if they get a height from 41 to 49 feet (but they are not told this).

For this tasks teams receive two tennis balls, a stopwatch a bunch of chalks and a calculator. They also have a blackboard where the formula and the needed constants (g and meter to feet factor) are written. They can use this blackboard to do their calculations.

 "She's the brains and the looks in the family", Dave after Irina solved the equation

On their way to this task Aarthy & Thinesh debate whether they should use their express pass or not.
 "Who discovered gravity? Einstein? Galileo?", Aarthy, but I get a feeling she is playing for the camera here

It seems the first three teams breeze through this challenge and they all leave before the next team arrives. Sarah & Sam struggle and after a while they go back and redo the timing of the drop. This time Sarah holds the stop watch and she records a time which is .5s longer than what Sam got. Lauren & Joanne also struggles so both of those teams are still frantically scribbling at the black boards and looking baffled when Trish & Amy arrives. Fortunately for them Trish & Amy also struggles.

 "999, that was not a thousand feet up there", Amy realize her result is improbable
 "I'm just blanking right now because I'm so stressed", Joanne
 
Teams complete this task in the following order:
 1(+0) Dave & Irina
 2(+0) Anthony & James
 3(+0) Aarthy & Thinesh
 4(+0) Sarah & Sam
 5(+0) Lauren & Joanne
 6(+0) Trish & Amy

Quote
ROUTE INFO

Make your way to
University Stadium at
Wilfred Laurier
University and search
for Jon at your next Pit
Stop.

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

Teams reach the mat in the following order:
 1(+0) Dave & Irina, win a trip to Frankfurt, Germany
 2(+0) Anthony & James
 3(+0) Aarthy & Thinesh
 4(+0) Sarah & Sam
 5(+0) Lauren & Joanne
 6(+0) Trish & Amy, are eliminated

This episode was recorded on Anthony & James wedding anniversary so Anthony has a small bracelet which he gives to James at the pit stop.

At the pit stop Aarthy & Thinesh have to give up their express pass. Jon points out that the last team who had to do the same was Steph & Kristen who won season 4.

 "It's been an honor for Amy and I to represent moms everywhere in the Amazing Race Canada", Trish

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Re: TAR Canada 7 Racing report, episode #8
« Reply #8 on: August 30, 2019, 02:53:33 AM »
Racing report
Amazing Race Canada Season 7, Episode 8, "Open your bouche"
Film dates: 2019-05-09 - 2019-05-10

The last pit stop was at University Stadium at Wilfred Laurier University. Teams are released from somewhere else in the following order:
1.Dave & Irina    03:29
2.Anthony & James 04:12+0:43
3.Aarthy & Thinesh04:56+1:27
4.Sarah & Sam     06:13+2:44
5.Lauren & Joanne 07:18+3:49

Route info: "Ride the rails to La Malbaie, Quebec"

Dave & Irina are elated since La Malbaie is in the middle of the French speaking region and a lot of people there do not speak English. As they do speak French they see this as an advantage for them.

All teams are on the same train from Kitchener via Toronto, Montréal, Québec City to La Malbaie.

Once they arrive teams will rush to Chez Chantal snack bar (this is just next to the train station). Here each team must peel 25 potatoes. Once they are done they will get a sample of the local Poutine and the keys to a car where they can find their next clue.

 "It's the first time I'm peeling a potato", Aarthy

Teams complete this task in the following order:
 1. Anthony & James
 2. Dave & Irina
 3. Sarah & Sam
 4. Lauren & Joanne
 5. Aarthy & Thinesh

Road block: Who wants to press their luck?

The road block takes place at Fairmont le manoir Rechelieu (1km away), which hosted the G7 2018 summit. Contestants must memorize and deliver a speech, in both English and French. The delivery happens in the tea room of the hotel and is modeled as a press briefing so there are a bunch of pretend journalists and lots of clicking and flashing cameras present. That is everything is set up to give the contestants a major dose of stage fright.

Once they have given the speech, in both English and French contestants will have to answer three different questions. The questions and their answers are also listed in their briefing materials but the catch is that the questions will be one in Japanese, one in German and one in Italian, the answer has to be in the same language. And teams do not know which order the questions will be asked.

 "I'm a terrible public speaker, hopefully I won't screw s", Irina

This task is hard, the difficulty is both in memorizing the speech in two languages and then delivering it to a crowd with lots of smattering cameras.

Irina struggles more than most and wants to quit. Dave convinces her to keep trying.

Thinesh almost gets it on his first attempt but mistakes the German question for Italian so he gave the wrong answer.

All teams are at the road block at the same time.

 "This room is extremely intimidating, but I focus on Dave's huge head because he's not moving and he's not gonna throw me off", Joanne has a trick

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the road block):
1(+4)Aarthy & Thinesh*(4-4)On his 2nd attempt
2(+2)Lauren & Joanne* (4-4)On her 3rd attempt
3(+0)Sarah & Sam*     (4-4)On his 5th attempt
4(-2)Dave & Irina*    (4-4)On her 2nd attempt
5(-4)Anthony & James* (4-4)On his 9th attempt

Quote
Detour:
"This" or "That"

The extra information only lists the location of the two options so teams have no idea whet they need to do at the different detours. The detours are 6km from each other but both are about 43km from the road block.

"That" takes place in the fields in front of Maison D'Affinage Maurice Dufour Inc and here teams get to play Pick-lit. This is done by placing a piece of wood on a tree stump. The wood is taped at the ends so when tapped by a bat it flies up into the air, and while it is on its way down players can hit it with the same bat. Depending on how far they get they earn 10, 15 or 20 points. They take turns and will get their next clue when they have reached a total of 200 points.

This is not too difficult once you get the hang of it, and people seem do so after a few (up towards 20) attempts.

 "I'm not a sporty person", Aarthy
 "I really just want to contribute a couple points", Aarthy as she has done 0 and Thinesh 170

"This" takes place at Centre de L'Émeu de Charlevoix. Here teams get to recreate two painted Emu eggs. The finished examples depicts two buildings in town. Once teams are approved they must drive into Baie-Saint Paul and search the main street for one of the two buildings where they can exchange their eggs for the next clue.

Teams are not allowed to touch or move the examples so they have to memorize as many details as possible before they return to their painting station.

 "I'm an art teacher, I can paint", Lauren
 "I can only paint by numbers", Joanne
 "These are so beautiful", Anthony when he sees the sample eggs

The paintings are quite detailed but the judge seems lax as teams are approved even though their drawings are much sloppier and lack some details.

No teams see any other team at the detour so some of them get really stressed thinking the others could have chosen the other detour which was super quick.

Sarah & Sam have trouble finding the detour location. Things are not made easier by the fact that there is a thick fog in the area so visibility is severely limited. Dave & Irina also overshoots it.
 "I was hoping I'm gonna finish the challenge and Dave is gonna take it from there", Irina has an interesting take on teamwork

Sarah & Sam arrive to the detour as Dave & Irina leave.

Teams complete the detour in the following order:
 1(+0) Aarthy & Thinesh, that (pick-lit)
 2(+0) Lauren & Joanne, this (painting)
 3(+1) Dave & Irina, that (pick-lit)
 4(-1) Sarah & Sam, that (pick-lit)
 5(+0) Anthony & James, this (painting)

Quote
ROUTE INFO

Drive yourselves to
Musée Maritime de
Charlevoix and search
the grounds for Jon at
your next Pit Stop.

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

Aarthy & Thiensh find a Musée de Charlevoix back in La Malbaie which they go for. Unfortunately this is the wrong place. And it adds more than 35 minutes to the driving time. And that is assuming they use the optimal route. Unfortunately they do not since they overshoots the museum by quite a bit and they loose even more time.

As Anthony & James pull up to the parking by the museum they see Sarah & Sam getting out of their car. Unfortunately these are not the two you want to have a footrace against. So there not really any question about who's going to reach Jon last.

Teams check in with Jon in the following order:
 1(+0) Aarthy & Thinesh, win a trip to Santiago, Chile
 2(+0) Lauren & Joanne
 3(+0) Dave & Irina
 4(+0) Sarah & Sam
 5(+0) Anthony & James, are not eliminated since the leg is not over yet

 "Hey, you guys are still racing. Forget the loving, rip and read", Jon to the two last and now very happy teams

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Re: TAR Canada 7 Racing report, episode #9
« Reply #9 on: September 08, 2019, 11:01:32 AM »
Racing report
Amazing Race Canada Season 7, Episode 9, "Another day in Thunder bay"
Film dates: 2019-05-10 - 2019-05-13

The last leg ended at Musée Maritime de Charlevoix where Jon told teams that were were still racing. Teams reached Jon  in the following order:
1.Aarthy & Thinesh16:48
2.Lauren & Joanne 16:54+0:06
3.Dave & Irina    17:35+0:47
4.Sarah & Sam     18:44+1:56
5.Anthony & James 18:45+1:57

Route info: Make your way to the Royal Ontario Museum.

Teams must now drive themselves to Québec City (114km 1h25min). From there they must travel by train to Toronto via Motreéal.

 "At this point in the race we're so exhausted, we're so tired", Thinesh

There are plenty of trains but all racers end up on the same train. Apparently production did something to force them onto that train. The train ride takes close to 9 hours

Once in Toronto teams make a mad scramble for the taxis and go to the Heritage entrance of the Royal Ontarion Museum.

Teams reach the museum in the following order:
 1. Dave & Irina
 2. Sarah & Sam
 3. Lauren & Joanne
 4. Anthony & James
 5. Aarthy & Thinesh

At the museum they must search for 10 different objects from the museums permanent collection and collect a stamp from each of them. The clue at the museum also tells them that they may not run in the museum. And it includes a list of the objects where the stamps can be found, but they must locate these objects by themselves. The objects are:
* Luohan Figure
* Tyrannosaurus rex
* Dodo skeleton
* Ming Tomb
* Cerussite Gem
* Straying Continents
* Barosaurus lentus
* Fish coffin
* Cleopatra VII
* The death of general Wolfe

Once they have all 10 stamps they must arrange them in the correct order to spell out their next destination. Each stamp has 1.5 letter or two halves of two letters on it and looking at the TV it looks like a fairly easy puzzle. But then again I have not been racing for multiple days straight and am not as stressed as the racers undoubtedly are. Anyway when arranged in the correct order the stamps spell out THUNDER BAY.

When it s time to solve the puzzle Irina has the right idea to just turn the stamps over so she can see the bottom and then arrange them so the letters fit. This is much easier than trying to stamp them each and then try to match them from the stamps.
 "Help me", Irina to Dave
 "I don't know what you're doing so", Dave feels left out

Sarah & Sam have some communication issues here. They keep heading in different directions. And once they solve the puzzle Aarthy asks if they have the answer and Sarah just blurts it out without consulting with her partner. This allows Aarthy & Thinesh to finish immediately and they get into a taxi before Sarah & Sam.

Teams complete this task in the following order:
 1(+0) Dave & Irina
 2(+2) Anthony & James
 3(+0) Lauren & Joanne
 4(+1) Aarthy & Thinesh
 5(-3) Sarah & Sam

Teams must now make their way to the Toronto Coach Terminal where they can sign up for a 17h bus ride to Thunder Bay. Once in Thunder Bay they will be released with 5 minute intervals in the order they signed up.

At the sign up board Dave tells Irina to write "again" after their name at the top of the board. She also adds a sad face to all the other sign up positions.
 "Being a professional fighter I know that the most important thing is to get into the head of them", Dave

Anthony "corrects" the board by replacing the sad faces with happy ones as they sign up.

In the taxi on the way to the sign up board both last teams talk about what happened.
 "You need to communicate, those aren't moves to make", Sam
 "You're right, your 100 percent right", Sarah recognizes her mistake
 "I struggle to disassociate between game time and friendship time, it was a silly move, I shouldn't have done it", Sarah

 "If there's an advantage to be had between 4th and 5th to be had then we will give it to them", Thinesh

In the end Sarah & Sam seem to have a better taxi so they arrive before Aarthy & Thinesh.
 "I think you guys are the greatest people in the world", Aarthy
 "We're also Canadian", Sam

Teams sign up in the following order:
 1(+0) Dave & Irina
 2(+0) Anthony & James
 3(+0) Lauren & Joanne
 4(+1) Sarah & Sam
 5(-1) Aarthy & Thinesh

Looking at a calendar here it seems as if teams sign up on the evening of the 11th. The bus drive takes 17 hours and thus occupies most of the 12th and teams are released in Thunder bay on the morning of the 13th. based on comments by the racers later in the leg I think they now get to spend a night in a hotel and that the bus to Thunder bay leaves in the early afternoon of the 12th in order to arrive in the morning of the 13th.

Teams are released by the Terry Fox monument in the order they signed up for the bus ride. The clue here instructs them to drive to a local Shell station. Here they must fill up with the sponsor's premium gasoline to receive their next clue.

Nobody gets lost on the way to the gas station so the order is unchanged. The clue they get here is a face off. This takes place at the local fun emporium Wacky's.

In this face off teams have to battle it out in one of three classic games; air hockey, table hockey or axe throwing. The first team to arrive to each match can pick with game to play. And as usual the last looser must wait for the sand in an hourglass to run out before they can continue racing.

Finding the face off location is harder so Anthony & James manage make up some time and get through the door just before Dave & Irina. This means Anthony & James may choose which game to play and they choose axe throwing as they have done it before with their gay swim team.

Dave continues to play with their minds and lies that he has won an axe throwing competition. The lie gets better when both he and Irina hit the bullseye on their first throws.

In the axe throwing each contestant gets 5 throws. In the air hockey all four players play a 3 minutes long match.

Teams leave the face off in the following order:
 1(+0) Dave & Irina, win axe throwing against Anthony & James
 2(+0) Anthony & James, win axe throwing against Lauren & Joanne
 3(+1) Sarah & Sam, win air hockey against Lauren & Joanne
 4(-1) Lauren & Joanne, win air hockey against Aarthy & Thinesh (by making 3 goals in the last 12 seconds)
 5(+0) Aarthy & Thinesh

Detour: Cutting edge or cutting a wedge

Cutting edge takes place at Lakehead university's faculty of natural resources airfield. Here racers will have to use  mavic 2 Zoom drone to locate four stuffed moose toys in a large field. One player will control the drone but can not see the drone or what it sees. The other player is wearing VR googles which shows what the drone camera sees. That player must give commands to the pilot who controls the drone. They must mark the positions on a grid system on a large board.

Cutting a wedge takes place on the Thunder Oak Cheese farm. Here teams must locate a specific numbered wheel of Gouda cheese in a storage room. Then cut 32 pieces weighing 230g to 270g. Finally they must correctly vacuum seal the pieces.

Only 3 teams can do either side of the detour.

At the drones Dave & Irina make a mistake when Dave says J (in french) it sounds like G and that is what Irina hears so she places the marker on 5-G instead of 5-J.

Anthony & James have trouble communicating with James telling Anthony things like "go towards the fields" even through Anthony can not see the drone (they are behind a screen).

A nice touch at the drone task is that each team get their own area to search and the moose are placed differently in the different areas, so they can not share their locations.

I have a nagging suspicion that the wheels of cheese weigh about 8kg each and if you just cut them into 32 pieces (by halving all pieces 5 times) you get the correct weight. But then I am well rested and have not been racing non-stop for 5 days. The teams have a hard time to cut the cheese. They tend to end up with pieces which are just too small. Fortunately they are allowed to fetch additional wheels of cheese when needed.

Aarthy & Thinesh try to go for the drones but it is full so they have to do the cheese instead.

Sarah & Sam have learned their lesson about communicating and they do an excellent job at the drone task, which is largely about communicating.

At the cheese side of the detour the stress level is high. Aarthy & Thinesh are the first to go to packaging but half of their cheeses are rejected. Lauren & Joanne get 8 rejected on their first attempt.

Teams complete the detour in the following order:
 1(+0) Dave & Irina, drone
 2(+1) Sarah & Sam, drone
 3(-1) Anthony & James, drone
 4(+0) Lauren & Joanne, cheese
 5(+0) Aarthy & Thinesh, cheese

The next clue tells them to drive to the next pit stop at Kakabeka falls.

Most teams are stressed as they head towards the pit stop. Sarah & Sam think they are next to last (they have not seen the cheese detour) and the two teams who did the cheese also think they are last. Aarthy is crying as she drives. Lauren & Joanne get even more stressed when they get have to wait for a train to cross the road.

Teams check in with Jon in the following order:
 1(+0) Dave & Irina, win a trip to Venice
 2(+0) Sarah & Sam
 3(+0) Anthony & James, just after #2
 4(+0) Lauren & Joanne
 5(+0) Aarthy & Thinesh, are eliminated

 "Thinesh and I ran this race with so much integrity, we'll always be people that lends a hand and that truly makes us Canadian", Aarthy
 "Another day in Thunder bay", Thinesh sings and gets the quite as they leave the pit stop


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Re: TAR Canada 7 Racing report, episode #10
« Reply #10 on: September 09, 2019, 03:57:40 PM »
Racing report
Amazing Race Canada Season 7, Episode 10, "He's basically a hound"
Film dates: 2019-05-15 - 2019-05-16

The last pit stop was by the Kakabeka falls. Teams are released from the lake shore in front of the Delta Hotel in Thunder Bay in the following order:
1.Dave & Irina    07:27
2.Sarah & Sam     08:18+0:51
3.Anthony & James 08:22+0:55
4.Lauren & Joanne 08:47+1:30

The first clue tells teams to fly to Woldfville, Nova Scotia. Actually they will fly to Halifax and then drive to Wolfville but let us not get hung up on details.

At the airport the first three teams are surprised when it is Lauren & Joanne who turn up as the last team.
 "I'm shocked that Aarthy & Thinesh were eliminated", Irina

All teams are on the same flight from Thunder bay to Toronto and then on to Halifax. Once they land they load into some big sponsor trucks. Their next clue can be found in a secret compartment in the truck.

The compartment does not seem to be all that secret because all teams seem to find the clue without any problems.

Route info: "Drive yourselves to Tangled gardens in Grand Pré, Nova Scotia. Then search the grounds for your next clue."

It is approximately an one hour drive to the Tangled Gardens and teams arrive in the following order:
 1. Dave & Irina
 2. Lauren & Joanne
 3. Sarah & Sam
 4. Anthony & James

Road block: Who's ready for a sticky situation?

In this road block teams must identify seven jams and jellies made from herbs grown in this garden. First they must search the garden for seven ladders with herbs and collect a small plaque from each of them. Then they go to a table where there are sever jars of jams and jellies and they must correctly match the herb to which jam/jelly is flavored by it.

 "This looks a little bit difficult", Joanne

We learn that Anthony has worked in the coffee industry and his job involved smelling and tasting the different coffees.
 "My pallet and my nose are basically designed to sniff out different flavors", Anthony
 "He's basically a hound", James gets the title

We do see a marked difference in the players approach. Anthony spends a lot more time smelling the jams/jellies than the other teams who seem to concentrate on tasting them.

 "I trust her much more than I trust myself in this", Sam on Sarah

As Anthony is done the other racers yell to him to cover his work table as they know Dave has "wandering eyes". Each work station actually comes with a piece of burlap which seems to be designed for this purpose.

Sarah is having a hard time. And it is not made easier by the fact that she is very afraid to move labels. She even starts crying a bit. She is frustrated and stressed, but she does not give up and eventually gets it.

 "I'm in a jam currently", Lauren is also struggling

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes team member doing the road block):
1(+3)Anthony* & James (5-4)
2(-1)Dave* & Irina    (5-4)
3(-1)Lauren* & Joanne (5-4)
4(-1)Sarah* & Sam     (5-4)

Route info: Drive yourselves to the Puck n' Apple

Teams are also told that the Puckn' Apples stand can be found by the Elderkin's homestead bakery (10 minutes). They reach it in the following order:
 1(+0) Anthony & James
 2(+0) Dave & Irina
 3(+0) Lauren & Joanne
 4(+0) Sarah & Sam

Quote
Detour
"Puck" or "Apples"

Puck:
Join a sledge hockey
practice and execute the
coach's drill from
memory to receive your
next clue.

Apples:
Carefully sort apples info
their different varieties to
receive your next clue

In Puck teams must make their way to the Acadia university campus and find the ice rink. Here each of them must strap into a sledge hockey rig and then they must complete a drill together which includes passing, moving and finally scoring a goal. They must complete the drill in less than one minute.

In Apples teams must make their way to Noggins corner farm market. Here they get a bunch of apples which they have to sort into different stacks according to variety. There are 12 different varieties and many of them look very similar. There seems to be about 12 apples of each variety in the pile. There is an example with some sample apples of each variety which they can look at.

 "We're picking the apples because it look easier", Irina

Both sides of the detour turn out to be difficult. The sledges players are strapped into in the hockey detour turn out to be hard to control and prone to tipping over. The apple sorting is also hard. It is made a bit easier by the fact that the judge will tell them which varieties of apples they have sorted correctly so they do not need to touch those any more.

Dave and Irina get 3 of the varieties approved on their first check.
 "This one I have switched about a thousand times", Lauren is unsure about one of the apples

Meanwhile Anthony & James struggle with the hockey.
 "When James gets frustrated with me I just fall apart", Anthony
But Anthony lets James have his hissy fit and then they are fine and complete the task. As they leave they see Sarah & Sam who are just arriving to the ice rink.
 "Is it really hard, should we apples?", Sarah to Anthony & James
 "No", Anthony gives a tip

There are two teams at the apple detour and after a while they have both gotten six varieties approved. That seems to have been the easy ones because both teams seem stuck at that point. But they keep trying switching apples. Both teams are stressed and we start to see cracks between Dave & Irina, they start snapping at each other and this is not a good sign.
 "They all look the same, like apples", Dave

After a while it seems teams can remove all the approved apples so they have more space to work with the last varieties. When Lauren & Joanne get their final approval Dave & Irina have four varieties left to get approved.
 "We left Dave & Irina in the dust. Man, that feels wild to say", Joanne as they drive away

Teams complete the detour in the following order:a
 1(+0) Anthony & James, puck on their 11th attempt
 2(+2) Sarah & Sam, puck on their 13th attempt
 3(+0) Lauren & Joanne, apples
 4(-2) Dave & Irina, apples

Quote
ROUTE INFO

It is time for a reversal of
fortune!

Collect the lyrics to
"Farewell to Nova Scotia"
by using the rear tailgate
camera on your All New
2019 Chevrolet Silverado
High Country.

Then make a delivery to
the band at a local pub
and join them in song.

Teams will now make their way to Taproom Farms. Here they must use their cars to reverse up to five clues lying flat on the ground. They can use the tailgate camera to read the text on the clues. Each clue contains one stanza of the song Farewell to Nova Scotia.

 "This is like literally designed for me", Anthony feel confident backing up to the clues, and he does handle the car well

Sarah & Sam arrive to this location as Anthony & James are still trying to puzzle together the lyrics. The later Lauren & Joanne arrive as Sarah & Sam are doing the task. And finally Dave & Irina arrive as Lauren & Joanne are doing the task.

 "I love my sister, but she drives like an old lady", Lauren and Joanne try (and fail) to back up to a clue
 
Once they have read all the clues teams must put them in the correct order to be allowed to continue. The completed lyrics are:
Quote
Farewell to Nova Scotia,
The sea-bound coast,

Let your mountains dark
and dreary be.

For when I am far away
on the briny ocean tossed.

Will you ever heave a sigh
or a wish for me?

The sun was setting in
the west,

The birds were singing
on every tree.

All nature seemed inclined
to rest

But still there was
no rest for me.

Once approved teams will hitch their truck to a trailer filled with cases of beer and deliver it to the Church brewing company in Wolfville (15min). Here they must join the band and perform the song. Teams got an USB-stick with the song on when they got their lyrics approved so they can listen and practice their singing on the way.

There was a webcam at the Wolfville waterfront park which caught teams as they were parking their cars before going to the Church brewing company. From that we got timestamps. The order (and times) are:
 1(+0) Anthony & James, 11:40
 2(+0) Sarah & Sam, 12:54
 3(+0) Lauren & Joanne, 13:00
 4(+0) Dave & Irina, 14:32

Nobody gets failed for the singing although there were big differences in quality. Once done teams get their next clue. It is a picture of Jon pointing at an old English phone booth in the middle of a wine yard.

Teams must ask around to learn that this is taken at Lcukett Vineyards. The phone boots in a wine yard is well known so it is easy to get directions.

Teams reach Jon and the pit stop in the following order:
 1(+0) Anthony & James, win a trip to Singapore
 2(+0) Sarah & Sam
 3(+0) Lauren & Joanne
 4(+0) Dave & Irina, are eliminated

 "Now we know that Canada is really beautify", Dave     

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Re: TAR Canada 7 Racing report, episode #11
« Reply #11 on: September 16, 2019, 12:03:09 AM »
Racing report
Amazing Race Canada Season 7, Episode 11, "I had one job"
Film dates: 2019-05-17 - 2019-05-18

As usual the last episode starts with a look back at this season of the race, the eliminated teams and the three teams who made it to the last leg.

The last pit stop was in a vineyard outside Wolfville, NS. Teams are released from the Wolfville Waterfront park in the following order:
1.Anthony & James 12:05
2.Sarah & Sam     13:12+1:07
3.Lauren & Joanne 13:22+1:17

Quote
ROUTE INFO

This is it! The final leg of
the Race!

Fly to Muskoka, Ontario!

Once there, search the
dock for your next clue.

NOTE: Once at Toronto
Pearson International, take
an airport limo to
the Signature Flight
Support Shell AeroCentre
...

At the executive terminal in Toronto temas will sign up to fly on one of three float planes which will take them to Muskoka.

At the Halifax airport the first two teams are surprised when they see Lauren & Joanne arrive as it means that Dave & Irina were eliminated.

There are plenty of direct flights from Halifax to Tornonto, but all teams are on the same plane so I assume the tickets were provided.

At the Toronto airport the race to and in the taxis is even more frantic that usual. Teams get into taxis in the following order:
 1. Sarah & Sam
 2. Anthony & James
 3. Lauren & Joanne

Here Lauren & Joanne hit a snag. They realize that they have lost their clue so they do not know where they are going. They jump into a taxi and use the drivers phone but fail to find the place. Perhaps because they are focusing on seaplane terminal.
 "I had one job, I literally had one job", Lauren gets the title
Eventually they go back to the airport and try the various information desks and after a while they find something which sounds familiar.
 "You dropped a piece of paper, it's not the end of the world, okay?", Joanne consoles her sister

The episode makes a big deal out of this, but I think it did not put them any further behind. From the telecast it looks like this is happening in the late afternoon to early evening on the 17th and the sea planes take off early morning on the 18th. This means teams had to spend the night here and the sisters are no further behind that the seaplane is scheduled to be. This is not mentioned in the telecast though.

Anthony & James's taxi passes Sarah & Sam on the way so teams sign up
in the following order:
 1(+1) Anthony & James
 2(-1) Sarah & Sam
 3(+0) Lauren & Joanne

Teams land at Port Carling in Muskoka and find their next clue on the dock. It is now time for a memory task, board game style.

Production has built a giant board game nearby, complete with a pair of giant dice. The board includes all the leg destinations as well as various pathways connecting them and various road blocks, detours, route markers, roll again spots and mystery boxes. Teams must roll the dice and move their marker. The goal is to land on each of the leg squares and give the correct answer to the question Jon asks. Once a team has done this on all leg squares they will get their next clue.

If teams land on a road block, detour or route marker they will have to correctly answer a question before they are allowed to continue.

All teams compete on the same game board. Anthony & James arrive first so they have time to play a bit before the next team arrives and they start to have to take turns. Lauren & Joanne also arrive before the first team is done.

The board game takes place in front of the Muskoka Lakes Museum which is next door to the Port Carling dock.
 "How do I get one of these for home?", Anthony as he is about to roll the giant dice
 "You have to win the Amazing Race Canada", Jon answers

Anthony & James have ticked off two legs when Sam & Sarah arrive.

The questions are like this:
 "If you added up all the ingredients in each layer of the Nainamo bar recipe you memorized, how many total ingredients did you recite", Answer is 13
 "Leg 1, Toronto Kamloops. What two racers were eliminated at the bike ranch?", Answer is Jet & Dave
 "Name all three legs in the race were there were no detours", Answer is 1, 4, 5
 "Leg 7, Kitchener Waterloo. According to the clue how many green balls did you search through to find a red or yellow ball?", Answer is over 30 thousand
 "In which leg of the race did you have a choice between celebrate or elevate?", Answer is leg 3, Edmonton
 "What is the name of the song that you sang in a local pub in Wolfville?', Answer is Farewell to Nova Scotia
 "What is the name of the memorial where you found your first clue in Thunder Bay?", Answer is Terry Fox memorial and lookout
 "What is the name of the lake in which you took a swim under the ice?", Answer is great Slave lake
 "Your Nainaimo question, at the Horn Lake caves, how many different unique letters were needed to spell out the location of the pit stop?", Answer is 8
 "How many express passes were up for grabs in the first leg of the race", Answer is 2

Teams leave the board game in the following order:
 1(+0) Anthony & James
 2(+0) Sarah & Sam
 3(+0) Lauren & Joanne

Road block: Who's got this one in the bag?

This road block takes place at Cleveland house (13min). Here the players must strap into a hydro flyboard. This is a board which has two water jets aimed down. The jets are fed from a hose coming from a nearby water scooter. Teams must learn to fly with these and while maintaining a height of at least 15 feet they must toss a bean bag into one of three targets.

This task is mostly about balance and a little bit of aiming.
 "This is hard", Anthony looking at James
 "I've never done anything even remotely close to this", Sam as he straps in
 "I'm a yoga teacher, but I have no balance 20 feet in the sky", Joanne

On his first attempt James hits the target, but he is not approved as he wasn't high enough.

The editing makes it seem as if it is anybody's game but the final result indicates that this may be deceptive.

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes the team member doing the road block):
1(+0)Anthony & James* (5-5)Gets it on his 7th attempt
2(+0)Sarah & Sam*     (5-5)Gets it on his 17th attempt
3(+0)Lauren & Joanne* (5-5)Gets it on her 18th attempt

The next clue send teams in a speedboat across the lake to Rosseau lake college.

 "Oh my good, it feels so good to be leaving them in the dust", James as they leave the road block

At the Rosseau lake college teams have to build a giant (8ft) Muskoka chair. They are given a bunch or parts, tools and a small completed chair as reference. There is also a small step stool to make it easier to reach the upper parts of the chair if needed.
 "I have never used a drill, I'm happy Sam has because he's gonna be the driller while I'm gonna be the holder in placer", Sarah lacks some life experience
 "That means you're doing something wrong", Anthony as he hears the sounds from Sam's attempt at tightening a screw

Teams get their chairs completed and approved in the following order:
 1(+0) Anthony & James
 2(+0) Sarah & Sam
 3(+0) Lauren & Joanne

[/quote]
ROAD BLOCK

Who's ready for a
holiday?

NOTE: The team
member who did not
perform the last road
block MUST attempt this
one.
[/quote]

Teams must now make their way to Santa's village in Bracebridge (33min). Here the participating racers must search for one of three elves carrying a race colored candy cane and the deliver it to Santa himself. This task may sound simple but is complicated by the fact that there are lots of elves in the park, they all have candy canes but most of them are the traditional red and white.
 "God, this place is huge", Anthony

Lauren & Joanne are a bit behind here because they arrive after the first two teams have already left.

The editing strongly suggests that Sarah & Sam arrive to Santa Claus with their candy cane as Anthony & James are getting their clue from him. But you never see both teams in the same shot so I am not sure that actually happened.

Teams complete this road block in the following order (* denotes the team member doing the road block):
1(+0)Anthony* & James (5-5)
2(+0)Sarah* & Sam     (5-5)
3(+0)Lauren* & Joanne (5-5)

The next clue tells everybody to pipe down. It directs them to the Muskoka Lakes farm & winery (31min). Here each team must assemble and connect the irrigation system used to water a Cranberry marsh. They are given a bunch of pipes of various dimensions, some with sprinklers and some without, and some connectors and other misc parts. They must then copy the setup from a sample marsh.

 "Our worst fear is a sprint to the finish line against Olympians", Anthony when Sarah & Sam arrive
 "Our garden is not as big but I'm getting ideas", Anthony, while laying sprinkler pipes

As they are nearing completion Anthony & James realize they have laid some of their pipes in the wrong direction. It looks like their are confused for a while but they quickly realize what their mistake is and start to correct it.

The editing shows both the first two teams asking for a check at the same time, but we do not see both teams in the same shot so I am pretty certain one team was a good bit behind the other.

Teams complete this task in the following order:
 1(+0) Anthony & James
 2(+0) Sarah & Sam
 3(+0) Lauren & Joanne

Teams must now make their way to Port Sydney and find camp Mini-Yo-We (52min). This is where the finish line is located.

Teams reach Jon at the finish line in the following order:
 1(+0) Anthony & James, win the race
 2(+0) Sarah & Sam
 3(+0) Lauren & Joanne

 "Six provinces, 1 territory, 14 cities and over 20,000km across Canada", Jon sums up the race
 "This is a moment in time I want to remember forever", Anthony