We start this episode out front of the Kingston City Hall, which was built 170 years ago (which is how far back in time I travel as a Train Conductor at Fort Edmonton Park). Steph & Kristen rip open their first clue at 9:09am to find that they're on their way to Havana, Cuba. All teams will need to catch a train from Kingston to Toronto and then all five teams will be on the same 2400 kilometre flight to Havana so it doesn't really matter that Steph & Kristen had almost a two hour lead on Frankie & Amy who opened their clue at 10:59am.
When everyone arrives in Cuba they'll need to locate the Castillo Real De La Fuerza to find their next clue amongst the numerous floors of model boats. Interestingly enough there was no footage of them landing at the airport in Cuba and the last time I landed in Cuba the airport was filled with armed guards trying to look overly threatening. That and the crashed plane beside the runway and you feel all sorts of secure. That probably explains the lack of footage and the fact that nobody seemed to have a problem locating the Castillo Real De La Fuerza.
It's time for the Detour; Sugar or Shake. In Sugar, teams need to locate the Havana Club Rum Museum and manually grind sugarcane through a machine, then deliver the large container of juice to the bar and receive two trays of drinks that need to be delivered several blocks away, then they need to race back for their next clue. In Shake, teams need to locate a couple who will teach them Cuban salsa and then they need to perform the dance before a crowd of onlookers to get their next clue. Pretty sure Wayne and I would be grinding sugarcane, which is what both Jillian & Emmett and Steph & Kristen choose while everyone else chooses Shake.
Jillian & Emmett are first to arrive at the Havana Club Rum Museum for Sugar and get started right away which is where Steph & Kristen find them when they arrive. Meanwhile, Frankie & Amy arrive first at Shake and it looks a bit overwhelming for Frankie. Then Rita & Yvette arrive followed closely by Joel & Ashley, who's not looking forward to letting someone else lead even if it's her dad.
It didn't take long to crush that sugarcane and when Jillian & Emmett leave with their container of juice, Steph & Kristen get their sugarcane stuck and Steph grabs a machete to chop down the cane. She also slices through her fingers and there's a lot of blood and tears flowing. While others tend to Steph's hand Kristen carries on with the challenge to avoid falling behind.
Not to be left behind just because she chopped off a few fingers (just kidding), Steph and Kristin deliver their juice and start heading out with their drinks as Joel & Ashley fail their first attempt at the dance. That's what happens when both dancers try to lead. Speaking of which, Rita & Yvette are in the lead but Steph & Kristen saw them heading out from the rooftop and are going to be right behind, along with Jillian & Emmett who are already inside checking out the Camera Obscura.
Back on the street Joel & Ashley nail the dance in their second attempt (I think), while Frankie & Amy finally take a shot and get it on the first try. Both teams are off to find the Camera Obscura and catch up to the others.
Rita & Yvette are the first to Room 511 with Jillian & Emmett and Steph & Kristen right alongside them. Teams must now compete in the Face-Off, a game of beach volleyball where the first team to score 15 points gets the next clue. Steph & Kristen get to the challenge first hoping to play against Rita & Yvette but they'll be playing Jillian & Emmett, who managed to squeeze ahead of Rita & Yvette.
Every time the volleyball hits her hand Steph's finger opens back up and starts bleeding again which gives Jillian and Emmett an advantage on the court and they manage to stay ahead, even after Steph gets her finger rebandaged. I actually expected the girls to do better but this has obviously not been their leg.
Frankie & Amy head to Room 511 while Joel & Ashley continue to look from the rooftop, while out on the beach Jillian & Emmett are one point away from winning until they messed up a few shots . . . but they still won with 15 to 12 and are now on their way to Max Brakes. Now Steph & Kristen are playing against Rita & Yvette and will hopefully perform better against the Twins.
Joel & Ashley figured out where they need to be and head to the hotel while out on the sand Steph & Kristen win 15 to 12 over Rita & Yvette and race off to Max Brakes. That's where they'll find Jillian & Emmett as the first team to the Roadblock, where one team member must create three handmade gaskets from old rubber tires, and Emmett steps up to the challenge. Back on the beach, Frankie & Amy are playing Rita & Yvette as Joel & Ashley arrive to watch Rita & Yvette win 15 to 5. Frankie & Amy are now playing against Joel & Ashley.
Emmett gets his first gasket done as Steph & Kristen arrive and Steph steps up to make the gaskets, despite her already injured hand. After seeing what they need to do they're both thinking Kristen should have done this one.
Joel & Ashley are way ahead when Frankie & Amy realize that Ashley is the weak link and they start advancing, but in the end . . . Joel & Ashley win with 15 to 13 and Frankie & Amy need to sit out a penalty as the last team. As Joel & Ashley head to The Roadblock, Rita & Yvette arrive at Max Brakes and Emmett gets his second gasket completed. Unfortunately, Steph is a little too cautious after her machete incident and, even though Emmett wants to help there's no way he's going to after the girls u-turned him on the last leg, so Emmett gets his third gasket before Steph gets any made. Jillian & Emmett are now on their way to the Pit Stop at La Divina Pastora Del Morro and they've got a good lead on the other teams.
Joel & Ashley arrive at Max Brakes and it's no surprise that Joel jumps at it. He's a mechanic by trade so this should be an easy challenge for him. Not so much for Steph and Rita who both fail their gaskets while Joel nails all three right away just as Frankie & Amy arrive and Frankie decides to do it. As Joel & Ashley leave Steph starts to stress out from the pressure, and probably also from the pain, but Steph gets her first gasket okayed and now she knows how to get it done.
Jillian & Emmett arrive at the Pit Stop and are Team Number 1. They have also won five nights in Cancun, Mexico (where my wife and I spent some time last November).That's their third win, tying up with Steph & Kristen who just got their third gasket and race to catch up, leaving Rita and Frankie spinning rubber.
Joel & Ashley are Team Number 2 and Ashley is happy to see her dad showing a lot more confidence. As they leave, Steph & Kristen arrive and are Team Number 3. This was a hard leg for them and it didn't help when they started getting frustrated with each other more than usual. A big part of that was probably caused by the injury but now she'll have a chance to gget that treated properly before the next leg.
Next time teams head home to Canada to Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia where there will be dancing, log hauling, cannon firing, and another Double U-Turn. This may be Emmett's chance to u-turn the girls but then again, it may be a great time to lock in an alliance by not doing so. Decisions, decisions. He's gonna u-turn them. Obviously there's no exit interview this week, and with the Druid closing its doors for a rebranding Wayne and I will likely be back in the gazebo for our weekly video. At least we won't be competing with a loud group of drinkers and bad music. Until that time.