Episode 9: “Do You Know How Much Running I Did Today, Phil?”

FRAT BOYS BACK ON TOP; FRAN & BARRY FALL SHORT
In a leg that took Teams to the beautiful beaches of Western Australia, a familiar order returned as friends Eric & Jeremy reclaimed the lead and the penniless BJ & Tyler moved up to third place. Married couple Fran & Barry held up in a very physical leg, even beating the athletic Ray & Yolanda at one point, but, a missing taxi helped seal their fate as the seventh Team eliminated from THE AMAZING RACE.

MONEY MATTERS
Departing the Pit Stop in first place at 5:35 pm, married couple Fran & Barry opened their clue instructing them to fly more than 9,000 miles to Perth, Australia, situated six miles inland from the pristine coast of the Indian Ocean and the capital of Western Australia.

The financial hardship of penniless and last place BJ & Tyler became a hot topic as the other four Teams left the Pit Start. While married couple Fran & Barry didn’t hesitate for a moment to throw twenty dollars into the driver’s seat of BJ & Tyler’s car, dating couple Joseph & Monica balked at the idea, joking, “Those guys are screwed. I love it. I’ll just be happy when the hippies are gone.” Dating couple Ray & Yolanda also showed some compassion by leaving money, but friends Eric & Jeremy simply left an IOU for 100 dollars, saying, “They’re hippies. They’ll find out how to make gas from trees out here. I don’t understand why people give them money. It’s dumb.”

Departing the Pit Stop in last place with only the 30 donated dollars from Fran & Barry and Ray & Yolanda, best friends BJ & Tyler received a bit of good luck by stumbling upon an Omani Bedouin named Abdul Hamid who needed a lift to Muscat. Besides giving directions, Abdul paid for gas and food for the grateful friends. BJ remarked, “Our friend Abdul Hamid is a Bedouin and Tyler and I are like American Bedouins and somehow he understands that.” When parting ways at the gas station, Abdul Hamid gave BJ & Tyler a Bedouin farewell that included touching noses, causing Tyler to exclaim, “That guy rocked my world!”

UNEXPECTED ARRIVAL
With a motorcade procession for the King of Oman slowing down the Teams, dating couple Joseph & Monica arrived at Seeb International Airport first, booking a flight on Emirates Airlines to Perth, Australia that connected through Dubai. With Fran & Barry, Ray & Yolanda, and Eric & Jeremy all booking the same flight, the only remaining question was whether BJ & Tyler would have enough time to make the flight.

As the four Teams placed their bags in the overhead compartments on the plane, BJ & Tyler pulled into the airport. With Eric & Jeremy and Joseph & Monica believing, or at least hoping, the hippies wouldn’t be on their plane, BJ & Tyler, after a few moments of concern, secured tickets on the boarding flight. Reminiscent of Rob & Amber’s surprise entrance several seasons ago, BJ & Tyler eagerly walked to the plane anticipating the looks of shock they planned to see, saying, “Time to rub it in their faces.” While Fran & Barry appeared happy to see BJ & Tyler, Monica whispered to Joseph, “How annoying.” Ray added, “Everybody looks like they saw a ghost when they saw the hippies.” A disappointed Joseph remarked, “Those lucky bastards.”

G’DAY MATE
Landing in Perth, Australia, the five Teams raced out of the airport into cabs heading to the King’s Park War Memorial. While dating couple Joseph & Monica took an early lead, a speedy cab driver delivered friends Eric & Jeremy to the memorial in first place. Opening their clue, the friends learned they had make their way to the port city of Fremantle and board a ferry to Rottnest Island, one of Western Australia’s most popular vacation spots.

Arriving in Fremantle, friends Eric & Jeremy discovered the first ferry out wouldn’t leave ‘til the following morning at 7:30 am. They opted to spend the night at a local hostel with Joseph & Monica and Fran & Barry who stayed in a room called The Pleasure Dome. This prompted Barry to quip, “This race has ruined our sex life. I’ll tell you that.” After taking a bus together to Fremantle, BJ & Tyler and Ray & Yolanda also bedded down for the evening.

BICYCLE BUILT FOR TWO
The next morning the five Teams boarded a ferry taking them 13 miles to Rottnest Island. After arriving on the island, the Teams each chose a tandem bike and began a three-mile trek along the winding roads that would take them to a lighthouse and their next clue. As expected, the athletic Eric & Jeremy took an early lead as everyone struggled somewhat as they faced the challenge of biking up and down the many hills of the island. Arriving at the Route Marker, Eric & Jeremy opened the clue to find a Detour. In this Detour, Teams had to choose between Sand and Sea. In Sand, Teams would choose a pile of 40 large branches and drag them 126 yards to a marked sand dune. This task, known as “brushing the beach” is commonly done in Australia to prevent beach erosion. In Sea, Teams had to dive beneath the waves and search through 50 crayfish traps lying on the ocean floor. Only a few traps contained live crayfish. After Teams returned two live crayfish, they would receive their next clue. In both cases, Teams needed to first ride their tandem bikes to the Detour.

Pulling up to the marked sand dune at the same moment, rivals Eric & Jeremy and BJ & Tyler split off in opposite directions as the “frat boys” changed into very skimpy bathing suits for some crayfish hunting in the pristine waters while the “hippies” began dragging brush across the beautiful Australian beach. Running into the water, Eric shouted, “Wait for the shrivelage,” before they each dove underwater looking through the traps.

ON THE BEACH
BJ & Tyler continued pulling the large, cumbersome branches across the sand, and were soon joined by their friends Fran & Barry in the task. Meanwhile, friends Eric & Jeremy each retrieved a crayfish and brought them back to shore. Opening their clue, they discovered they had to return to the mainland and find the Fremantle Prison. Built in the 1850s by convict labor, the prison was shut down in 1991, but still existing underneath the prison is a network of tunnels used to supply Fremantle with fresh water.

As BJ & Tyler finally finished dragging branches, dating couple Joseph & Monica arrived and suited up for a swim. The couple started off well on the task after blowing up at each other on the ride over when they briefly got lost. However, their accord disintegrated again when they didn’t follow directions and only pulled one crayfish out of the water. Duking it out for last place with Ray & Yolanda, who chose to brush the beach, the couple went back in the water where Monica struggled to pull a crayfish out. With Joseph trying to support her and calm her down, Monica became scared, but finally managed to snag one crayfish on the ocean floor to stay minutes ahead of Ray & Yolanda.

Arriving at the ferry dock, friends Eric & Jeremy caught a huge break by being the only Team to catch the 9:15 am ferry back to Fremantle. Pulling in minutes later, best friends BJ & Tyler opted to take the 9:25am ferry to Hillarys and then catch a taxi down to Frematle after being told this would be faster. The remaining three Teams all boarded the 10:00am ferry back to Fremantle. Trying to get a leg up, both Fran & Barry and Joseph & Monica called for taxis to be waiting when they reached the shore.

PRISON BREAK
After the ferry docked, friends Eric & Jeremy took a jog through Fremantle and arrived at the prison in first place. Opening their clue, the pair encountered a Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one Team member had to search the prison block for several cells within Division 4 that contained Duracell coppertop batteries and a flashlight. Then, after finding an entrance to a darkened cavern, they had to descend deep into the ground and search a set of wet or dry tunnels to find their next clue.

While Jeremy had few difficulties in finding his flashlight and batteries, locating the entrance to the cavern was a little trickier. After a seemingly endless search through many doors, some unlocked, others not, Jeremy finally found the door leading to the cavern, just as Joseph & Monica and BJ & Tyler, whose taxi ride from Hillary to Fremantle was riddled with red lights, arrived at the prison gates. Fran & Barry, whose cab driver didn’t show at the dock, now fell into last place, taking a bus instead.

In the caverns, Jeremy grabbed a paddle and canoe to begin his search through the wet tunnels of the prison as Joseph and Tyler scoured the cell block for their flashlight and batteries. After finding his flashlight, Joseph tried his best to ignore the many questions Tyler had about where to find one, but just as Yolanda and Fran began their search, Tyler discovered one as well.

After an unsuccessful tour of the wet tunnels, Jeremy ditched the canoe for the dry tunnels where he located a clue almost instantly. Running back to his partner, Jeremy opened the clue with Eric that instructed them to travel one and a half miles to the Pit Stop at the Fremantle Sailing Club.

With no taxis in sight, the friends opted to run to the Pit Stop, but with all the time Jeremy spent at the Roadblock, dating couple Joseph & Monica, with a taxi waiting for them, closed the gap. As Eric & Jeremy strolled towards the sailing club, they suddenly spotted Joseph & Monica’s taxi pull up and began a sprint to the Pit Stop. Tearing out of their cab, MoJo ran just as hard, but in the end, it wasn’t enough, as Eric & Jeremy once again stepped onto the mat in first place. This time Phil gave the friends a trip for two from Travelocity to Hong Kong.

BATTLE DOWN UNDER
With best friends BJ & Tyler battling back after two bad legs to finish in third place, Yolanda and Fran remained at the Roadblock trying desperately to help their Team avoid elimination. While Yolanda paddled through the wet tunnels, Fran opted to run through the dry tunnels searching for a clue. Although Yolanda snagged a clue first, Fran found hers only moments after, saying, “We’re in last. I feel badly.”

Having a narrow edge allowed dating couple Ray & Yolanda to pull into the Fremantle Sailing Club first. However, the pair couldn’t find the breakwater where Phil stood waiting. While Ray & Yolanda asked inside the club, Fran & Barry pulled up to the parking lot and quickly identified where they needed to go. Figuring it out for themselves, Ray & Yolanda’s speed proved too great for Fran & Barry who stepped onto the mat in last place. After Phil informed the couple they had been eliminated from the race, they looked back fondly on the experience while fighting back tears. On his partner, Barry remarked, “The thing about Fran is that she doesn’t know still to this day at 61 how unique and how special she really is.” Fran commented, “Barry and I see little, old people holding hands and we always say, ‘That’s going to be us in 30 years.’ And God willing, it will be.”

DETOUR

Sand: After riding tandem bikes to the Detour on Rottnest Island in Australia, Teams needed to choose a pile of 40 large branches and drag them 126 yards to a marked sand dune. This task, known as “brushing the beach” is commonly done in Australia to prevent beach erosion. BJ & Tyler, Fran & Barry and Ray & Yolanda brushed the beach.

Sea: In Sea, Teams also needed to take a ride on a bicycle built for two before diving beneath the waves to search through 50 crayfish traps lying on the ocean floor. Only a few traps contained live crayfish. After Teams returned with two live crayfish, they would receive their next clue. Eric & Jeremy and Joseph & Monica took a dip in the ocean.

ROADBLOCK
In this Roadblock, one Team member had to search a block in Fremantle Prison for several cells within Division 4 that contained Duracell coppertop batteries and a flashlight. Then, after finding an entrance to a darkened cavern, they had to descend deep into the ground and search a set of wet or dry tunnels to find their next clue. Jeremy, Joseph, Tyler, Yolanda and Fran scoured the former slammer.

FAST FORWARD
There was no Fast Forward on this leg.

YIELD
There was no Yield on this leg.

EPISODE QUOTES:

Joseph: (regarding himself and Monica) We are the kings of not reading the clues right and stuff.

Yolanda: (at the Detour) It's between us and "Frank and Barry."

Fran: Bikes are our element. We could outbike all of the other teams.

Barry: This race has ruined our sex life. I'll tell you that.

Monica: I'll just be glad when the hippies are gone. The hippies wanted us to leave money on their car!

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