They’re racing across picturesque Coober Pedy, Adelaide and Port Lincoln, and we’re silently wishing we applied. They hunted for opals in an underground mine shaft, SWAM WITH SEA LIONS, ate some massive German sausages and played a game of “golf”.
It looks like a fun time, but the reality is they all have their struggles, sometimes made more difficult by the teams themselves.
Let’s begin with the underground mineshaft. The teams had to navigate their way through the dark, narrow mines and find rocks with small bits of opal inside them.
“There’s a labyrinth of tunnels under there. Your eyes were not adjusted because it was just black,” Amanda and Ashleigh said.
Some teams took it on headfirst, while others took a bit longer to coax down. Chris, who had a fear of going underground, was one of the latter.
“I think I have to nervous pee, is there a bathroom around here?” he said.
Once down the shaft they discovered finding the opal wasn’t the worst of it – rather, finding their way out. And eventually, even when some teams, *cough* Holly and Dolor *cough* found the exit, they just decided to turn around and go right back into the mine.
Narrator: They were not. #AmazingRaceAU pic.twitter.com/h1Y0UiB4Te
— Amazing Race AU (@amazingrace_au) February 21, 2021
At the golf challenge in episode 10, Dolor decided to play smarter and not harder.
“Should I be the catcher and try to catch someone else’s ball? I’m a really competitive guy and I wanna win at all costs,” he said.
Flash-forward a few moments and surprise, surprise, Holly actually caught the golf ball Dwes hit for Katherine. We were all shocked - that’s skill with a side of sneakiness.
STOLEN! Holly snags Dwes' shot and The Power Couple are on their way to the Pit Stop...but will they be safe? #AmazingRaceAU pic.twitter.com/m9oCy8aBcC
— Amazing Race AU (@amazingrace_au) February 21, 2021
Ultimately, this sly move on the Power Couple’s part led to the elimination of Dwes and Katherine, a team we love and miss.
The stowaways are still strong as ever and it seems that an alliance may be brewing. During the challenge at Adelaide Oval, Stan decided to tell MJ which bay their photo was in.
“I decided to let her know, just because I think this is a full-on challenge and I’d be so grateful if someone helped us out,” Stan said. “There’s $250,000 on the line, there’s your character, your credibility. I’d rather be a really good human than a really rich one. But I’d like to be both.”
And as Stan predicted, his good karma came full circle with MJ revealing where his image was.
“That good karma literally just came straight back in my face. Like MJ had found ours and she just told me bay 6,” he said.
After all the cardio at the oval, the teams were then given the option to down an entire plate of German sausages or perform a slap dance.
“I think I had like three mouthfuls and I was like, this is horrible,” the cowboys said.
“It felt like we were eating those snags for hours and at the same time, we’re watching everyone do the slap dance,” MJ and Chelsea said.
What a show that would’ve been, especially when Dolor joined the dance floor.
“Yeah Dolor’s a great dancer. Whenever we’re in the club, people always want to film him, want to watch him dance.”
Probably one detour our teams didn't think they'd be doing 🤣🤣#AmazingRaceAU pic.twitter.com/0mRGYLnofi
— Amazing Race AU (@amazingrace_au) February 22, 2021
This week, the First Class Pass really hit with a bang. MJ and Chelsea came first and gave the Salvage to the Cowboys, while they gave the Sabotage to Chris and Aleisha who, according to Aleisha, were really close with them behind the scenes.
“MJ and Chelsea, who we thought were super good friends of ours, gave us a Sabotage. This is one of the worst sabotages any team has ever had,” they said.
The sabotage prohibited them from asking for directions which, given their history, was bound to mean they would struggle.
The biggest wow moment of The Amazing Race so far was when they got to swim with sea lions.
How can you ignore the puppies of the ocean? 🥺 #AmazingRaceAU pic.twitter.com/Jr4C54UaCF
— Amazing Race AU (@amazingrace_au) February 23, 2021
“We had to have a chat before our team got in the water that no one would get distracted by the sea lions because they are the puppies of the ocean and they’re so cute!” Ashleigh and Amanda said.
But not everyone loved having company in the water, “Dolor kept squealing that he was getting attacked by sea lions,” Ashleigh and Amanda said.
“I could feel something licking my foot and I was getting really scared. These sea lions, they looked like they were looking for blood. They looked like killer sea lions,” Dolor said.
What Dolor was feeling on his feet was later revealed: “There was no sea lion at his feet, it was just Holly,” the girls said.
Sometimes there is nothing else to say 😂 #AmazingRaceAU pic.twitter.com/J72Pcv9Nxv
— Amazing Race AU (@amazingrace_au) February 23, 2021