Sukhi & Jinder were mere seconds ahead of Natalie & Meaghan at the end of last week's episode and are the first to depart on the eleventh leg at 4:31 am and they're driving themselves 140 kms from P.E.I. to New Brunswick across Confederation Bridge. Well, at least they're not stuck waiting for a flight. Once they arrive in Shediac, NB, teams will need to join an Acadian birthday party at the local DQ, where they'll prepare Blizzards and custom ice cream cake for the party, . . . once served correct toy they'll get their next clue. Is DQ even open that early?
The Olympians are one minute behind and those Chevy Trax sure look like a nice ride. Only six minutes behind the girls are Mickey & Pete, who should have no problem slipping into second while Sukhi & Jinder wait out a 15 minute penalty for running a red light. I guess it's better to sit it out now than have it come as a surprise at the Pit Stop. At the end Ryan & Rob are bringing up the rear with a 5:09 am departure. I think I actually saw Rob smile. Finally.
Everybody realizes how important this leg is as they all vie for final three and a shot at the grand prize, but somebody's going to be hugely disappointed. Natalie & Meaghan are the first to arrive at the Shediac DQ and take their table's order then head in to fill it. Mickey & Pete arrive second and feel they're definitely DQ material. Not so sure about that, but Pete did really well icing the Happy Birthday cake.
The girls finish first and receive their next clue and their off on a drive 60kms south to Hopewell Cape to locate the Albert County Museum, eight original buildings from early New Brunswick. Once there they need to search the grounds for their next clue.
Sukhi & Jinder finally arrive just as Mickey & Pete complete the challenge. It's a pretty easy challenge and a fun way to squeeze in a DQ commercial, but where did they find all these people who wanted ice cream for breakfast? Oh wait, they're kids. Of course they'd want ice cream for breakfast. Mine certainly would.
The Olympians quickly find the next clue in the court house. Detour; By Land or By Sea.
In By Land teams get a chance to geocache using GPS devices to locate hidden items. If they've ever done this before it's an easy detour but if they haven't it could take some figuring out to find all ten geocaches. In By Sea teams must locate Hopewell Rocks and then learn the maritime tradition of international signal flags by finding their signal station box with almost 100 flags, figure out their message, race across the beach to the code book for the appropriate flags, memorize the order, race back and raise their flags. Wayne and I would go geocaching.
Natalie & Meaghan however decide that geocaching would be too confusing and choose By Sea. Meanwhile Sukhi & Jinder complete their order, Mickey & Pete find the court house, and Ryan & Rob . . . Where the heck have they disappeared to now? Pete thinks the semaphore task will be quicker and off they go to Hopewell Rocks. There they are, Ryan & Rob have arrived at DQ and know they're in last place but it's still early. Real early.
Not really sure why the girls are removing the sheet of messages from the flag station lid, apparently this is as confusing as geocaching for them. The SignalMaster looks like he's wondering how they got this far as they scurry off down the beach. Once they see the code book they figure it out. They may feel a bit stupid, but they're still in the lead.
Speaking of leads, Sukhi & Jinder's is long gone as they drive right past the Albert County Museum, giving the Olympians and the Dudes more of a lead and allowing Ryan & Rob to close the gap. Not sure why they have so much trouble reading a map, or a sign for that matter. Not sure how Jinder figures they had a massive lead though, they were only a minute ahead of the girls and seven ahead of the Dudes, both of which passed them during their penalty. They finally arrived at the museum at the same time as Ryan & Rob, raced around the grounds and both decide to do By Sea.
At the sea, Natalie & Meaghan think they've figured out a system to memorize the messages but seem to have a problem raising their flags. Mickey & Pete look just as confused as the girls when Ryan & Rob show up, while Sukhi takes a road trip around New Brunswick. Natalie & Meaghan call for a flag check, but they're wrong, . . . back to the book. During the run they realize that the SignalMaster is reading the flags from the sea not the shore and they race back to flip their flags.
Mickey & Pete feel they've got it figure out and call for a check but, like the girls, they're wrong. They start flipping a few flags as Sukhi & Jinder finally join the party. Sukhi figures they can out-memorize the other teams as they race to the code book but then Jinder realizes they've lost their clue. That's never good. Hard to read what you don't have.
Natalie & Meaghan call for another inspection while Jinder races about looking for his clue, but they've still got something wrong. Sukhi figures they can just read another teams' clue, but Mickey & Pete aren't sharing and neither are the Bartenders. I can't believe that the Olympians actually shared their clue after what happened in the last leg. There's a difference between playing fair and playing stupid, and personally I think that was stupid and may have cost them the race. Ryan & Rob's first inspection is also incorrect.
Time for a second inspection for the Dudes, but it's wrong, as is the girl's third attempt. Sukhi & Jinder's first attempt is also wrong. See how much easier it would have been to find ten hidden geocaches. Mickey & Pete started over for their third attempt only to find themselves still incorrect. As was their fourth, Ryan & Rob's fifth, and the girl's ninth. Isn't it about time somebody switched detours?
The Olympians are the first team to realize they may need to switch and thanks to the joys of editing it looks like everyone is waiting to see what they do. They've never switched a Detour yet, but after eleven attempts it may be time. They decide to switch but while looking to retrieve their clue they find an almost matching flag and think it may be the mistake they've been making all along. A quick flip, a twelfth inspection and . . . Congratulations. They're on their way to Cape Enrage to find their next clue.
Mickey & Pete discover the same nearly identical flag and make the same switch. Tenth times the charm, but why do they holler back to the last two teams to check their flags for the littlest details? I thought they wanted to win. Ryan & Rob make the same flip but on their ninth inspection they're still wrong.
Welcome to Cape Enrage where the girls find the clue box and this leg's Roadblock; Rage Against the Cape. One team member must rappel down the cliff face to find the first half of their clue, then race across the rocky shore and climb up another rock face to find the second half of their clue. Put the halves together, decipher the clue and move on. Natalie decides to go over the edge for the Olympians.
Rappelling down is easy enough, just a matter of balance, but I think I'd let Wayne do this one. He's younger, in better shape, and needs the exercise. Not so much an exercise in futility as the endless stream of incorrect flag checks back at the beach, but Ryan & Rob find a second incorrect flag, switch it, and their eleventh attempt is correct . . . leaving Sukhi & Jinder in last place, but not for long as Jinder discovers the same flag and their tenth attempt is good to go.
Mickey chooses to join Natalie on the Roadblock, just as Natalie finds the first half of the clue. Mickey's a lot faster rappelling down than Natalie was and narrows the gap, but she manages to stay ahead as she climbs back up with both halves of the clue. Now they need to make their way to the zipline tower, properly rig their teammate into their gear and zipline to the Pit Stop, a 150 year old lighthouse on the shore of the Bay of Fundy.
The girls are first to the tower and notice the boys are on their way and closing the gap. If they don't figure out what they're screwing up on the harness soon they could miss out on reclaiming victory. A few quick adjustments, a few more, a helmet check, . . . whew, good to go.
A quick zipline down to Jon at the Pit Stop and Natalie & Meaghan are Team Number One and guaranteed a spot in the final leg. They also won two tickets to anywhere in the USA that Air Canada flies and another $5,000 on their card. Mickey & Pete can see them land and know they're Team Number Two. So close, and yet so far, but a great leg for the boys.
Back on the cliffs Ryan's going over and a little terrified he's gonna lose it and fall face first. As Sukhi & Jinder arrive, Sukhi straps in. She's a little less terrified, but not by much. Ryan realizes he has to actually climb the cliff back up rather than walk up, and it doesn't help to have the added pressure of Sukhi closing in on him. Don't fall now Ryan.
As Sukhi ascends the cliff face Jinder watches Ryan & Rob zipline across the sky and knows it's the end for them. He stays supportive of his sister who's found herself stuck about fifteen feet from the top. Ryan & Rob are Team Number Three and we finally get some personality from Rob. Sukhi makes it to the top and they zipline in to be the last team to arrive and unfortunately eliminated from the race. They had a good run, but all good runs eventually end.
Next week it's the finale as the final three teams head to Ottawa where they get strung up, roadblocked, and oared to their limits as they race through a maze in search of the final Pit Stop. Be sure and check back soon for our exit interview with Sukhi & Jinder and watch for our video recap in the next 36 hours. Maybe we'll do it from my new car.