Where is airing: HBO
For what age: 19+
How many episodes in 2 season: 11 episodes
The second group of the Amazing Race contestants are off on the first leg of a journey across the world. The first place they must travel to is Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where the teams rappel down the face of a 590 foot mountain and others search for the woman that inspired the song "The Girl from Ipanema". Problems arise between two of the teams when Tara & Wil claim to have been at the Hotel (where they were to get reservations) before the rest of the teams arrived. Blake and Wil have it out about this, even to the point of Wil bragging up his travelling shugs. Peggy and Claire, the oldest contestants in the race are sure they will get eliminated but in a mad rush to the finish, they get to the pit stop minutes before mother and daughter pair, Deidre and Hillary, while separated couple Tara and Wil place first. After being eliminated, the team feels the race has definitely improved their relationship and has brought them closer together after Hillary had spent most of her life living with her father.
All of the ten remaining teams continue the race in South America. In this leg of the race, teams hang-glide, much to the chagrin of Peggy who has had problems with her knee for years, but does it reluctantly anyway. Shola & Doyin obtain the fast forward by playing volleyball with professionals in which a foot gets twisted. Other problems occur with the twins, when at one point, [one of the twins] gets their foot run over. Blake and Paige have problems when they lose their wallet and have to go around the bus station, begging for money. Several problems occur on the bus rides to the next pitstop, as one breaks down and the other gets a flat tire. Chris & Alex, tired of waiting, decide to fix the flat tire themselves and get back on the road. Again to their surprise, Peggy and Claire stay in the race, this time placing in 8th position. And it's a race by Hope/Norm and Blake/Paige to the finish, which results in the elimination of the married parents from Tennessee. They also feel this has rekindled their relationship in a sense and made them realize there love for each other, more so.
The teams leave Brazil and South America all together to head to South Africa. There some teams dance for money, haul fish and are forced to drink blended sheep's head in the road block. Peach gets emotional when giving sunglasses to kids on the street. Shola and Doyin feel at home, as their father was born in Sierra Leone. Tara and Wil's alliance with Chris and Alex comes to a halt, as they realize this game is every man for themselves. Peggy and Claire sleep through their departure time and Blake and Paige, in last place, decide not to wake them up. Problems at the airport, including missing their flight, cause Peggy and Claire to fall a day behind and are the third team eliminated from the race.
The teams travel to Namibia where they climb sand dunes and slide down them as a task. Shola and Doyin face problems of driving standard in the desert and eventually get stuck. Wil and Tara accuse Gary and Dave of speeding and even call them cheaters and Gary tells them that "[They're] going down!". A feud on the horizon? Oswald and Danny maintain their position in first place as they capture a rather easy fast forward which sends them directly to the pit stop. Shola and Doyin can not overcome their problems in the desert and end up skipping most of their tasks and just head directly to the pit stop where they are eliminated. Blake and Paige spark controversy with Mary and Peach as in a race to the finish, the brother and sister team cut across the trees to finish seconds before the two sisters.
The teams travel from their pit stop at Anani Lodge to Bangkok. They all fight for planes, but the airport ends up being the usual great equalizer. In Bangkok, they take part in a Detour in which they must choose between Confusion Now and Confusion Later. Confusion Now involves finding the correct taxi at a water taxidock, while Confusion Later involves burning a paper car as a spiritual offering. The teams split the choices, some encountering difficulties. One team loses valuable time after going to the wrong shrine. Later, the teams take part in a Roadblock that requires a journey into a deep, dark cave. The fear of this obstacle could cost one team the race.
The teams are continuing from the Pit Stop in Pai Pong Plang and are now making their way back to Bangkok. They then take a long train trip to Chang Mai. The stress seems to be getting to some teams, as they make their way to a Detour. The choices are Boat or Beast. Boat involves paddling a bamboo raft, while Beast is an elephant ride. All teams choose the Boat option. Later, the teams are forced to deal with elephants in a Roadblock that involves elephant washing. A bitter fight between two teams leads to a spirited race to the Pit Stop, but one team receives some good news.
The teams drive from their Pit Stop in Northern Thailand to Chiang Mai. After receiving a clue, they find themselves facing another long drive, this time to Hong Kong. There they must find the Central Plaza and then the Star Ferry. There, they reach the Detour, which is a choice between Wishing Tree or Herbal Tea. Most teams choose the Herbal Tea option, but one decides to go a separate way by doing the Wishing Tree. Yet another skips it all together, by taking the Fast Forward. The remaining teams then do a Roadblock that involves operating a crane. One team falls hopelessly behind and is eliminated from the race.
In this special two hour episode of The Amazing Race, the teams make their way all the way from the Hong Kong Harbor to deep in the Australian outback. In the first leg, the teams travel from Hong Kong Harbor to Repulse Bay. There, they complete several tasks including a Detour that gives a choice of Dragon or Lion and a Roadblock that involves a walking tour using Australian slang. The Roadblock proves very confusing for some teams, but the confusion may not be the tragedy that one team thinks it is. In the second leg, the teams continue their journey in Australia, heading into the Australian outback. Some teams pursue the Fast Forward to keep themselves in the game. The Detour is a choice of Cool Down or Heat Up and the Roadblock requires shug with a boomerang. One team struggles with the challenge but hangs on, while another falls dangerously behind.
It's the Australian outback, the 9th pitstop in a race around the world. As usual, the contestants have absolutely no idea where they're going to have to go and they have to figure it out by looking for yellow and red route markers. Chris and Alex leave at 3:35 A.M. The clue tells them to take a flight to New Zealand, which is over 200 miles away. First, they have to take transportation to a local airstrip. Blake and Paige leave at 5:01 A.M., Tara and Wil at 5:06 and Oswald and Danny at 5:09. Wil says that with four teams left, every second counts. They load their vehicles onto an eighteen wheeler to go to Glendamboe. Chris and Alex stop at a convenience store to make flight arrangements. It's a choice between a 10:30 or an 11:15 A.M. flight. Chris and Alex seem unconcerned about getting the 10:30. Wil is interested in getting it. Tara and Wil head the wrong way to the airstrip. Wil says that he's quitting, that he's feeling "run down." Chris and Alex say that they've already got their New Zealand connection flight, so it doesn't matter if they get the 10:30 or 11:15. Blake and Paige find out they're on a later flight to Queenstown than everybody else, so they have to find some other option. They can't, so they board the later flight. It doesn't matter because they all catch up to each other anyway. Blake and Paige, getting onto the flight to New Zealand, lie and say that they don't have any luggage. They just carry on their bags, in the hopes of getting a jump on the other teams. So Chris and Alex stage a gag where Alex gets on the PA like he's a stewardess and then pretends that his leg hurts. This buys them and the other teams time to get their baggage off the plane and meanwhile Blake and Paige can't get off. Finally, they all grab taxis and head for Wentworth station, a farm on the outskirts of Queenstown. Blake tells his driver to go as fast as he can, then he and Paige decide to use the Fast Forward. The Fast Forward involves heading to Shotover River and taking a ride a jetboat, looking for the flag with the Fast Forward clue. Blake says that he has no loyalties or alliances (and it's not a surprise, considering the way he and Paige bumble around.) Tara and Wil find the flag at Wentworth Station, along with Chris and Alex and Oswald and Danny. The clue tells them to get to the Nevis highwire platform. Two teams at time can catch a gondola to the "Mother of All Bungee Jumps." Tara and Wil arrive, followed again by Chris and Alex and Oswald and Danny. Blake and Paige, having gone jetboating, find the Fast Forward flag. The clue says to head to the pitstop at the Inverary Sheep Station on the Canterbury Plains. Back with the other teams, the task is a Detour: Quick Jump, which requires them to bungee jump. It's the second highest in the world, at 450 feet. The other task is Long Hike, which requires them to hike down to the clue at the bottom of the canyon. Oswald and Danny at first seem to be cool, calm and collected about the idea of bungee jumping. Wil feels like he's just going to leave right then and there rather than do that. They bungee anyway and Tara's quite happy with Wil for doing it. The clue tells them to drive to the Inverary Sheep Station, more than four hundred miles away. Chris and Alex bungee. Wil and Tara are having problems getting to their car out of gear. Chris and Alex get the clue. Oswald and Danny bungee, screaming all the way down. Blake and Paige arrive at the Canterbury Station. Blake thinks that the Fast Forward will guarantee them a spot in the final three. Blake is delusional. They're the first team to arrive and they've won a vacation to Puerto Rico. Tara and Wil arrive at the Canterbury Sheep Station. Their task is a Roadblock, the clue says that whoever does it "should be ready for a wooly time." They have to separate three black sheep from a total of twenty-two in a corral and get them into an adjoining small pen. Once they've completed the task, they can check in at the pitstop. Oswald and Danny think that they may have taken a wrong turn and Chris and Alex do too. Wil's having a hard time with the Roadblock. Chris and Alex ask for directions. Wil decides to get all of the sheep into the small pen and then directs the white ones out. Finally, the three black ones are left and he and Tara check into the pitstop. Oswald and Danny get directions. They're told that they're about a kilometer away. Chris and Alex reach the Roadblock. Chris does the task for them and gets all three of the black sheep into the pen, but there's also one stubborn white one who doesn't want to leave. Chris calls himself the "sheep whisperer" and finally gets the white sheep out. Alex and him check in third. Oswald and Danny make it to the Roadblock. Oswald does the task, using Tara and Wil's strategy. They arrive in fourth place, but it's a non-elimination round, so they're still in the game. Danny says that he's not sure how they're still in the game. They say that it would be "great" to win.
The four remaining teams leave Christchurch and fly to Auckland for the leg that will determine the final 3.The teams begin at Inverary sheep station, the previous pit stop and fly to Auckland. Once there, teams witnessed a Maori dance before continuing on with the race. The Fast Forward for this leg required teams to drive to the top of Mount Terawera where they would complete a treacherous volcano "scree" run, a near vertical sprint down a wall of loose volcanic rock to the bottom of a dormant volcano, where the Fast Forward clue would be waiting for them. One team claimed the Fast Forward, checked into the next Pit Stop and automatically became one of the final three teams.Teams were then faced with a Detour, "Drop" or "Climb". All teams chose "Drop" which involved the largest free rappel in the world into an incredibly deep cavern known as "The lost world caves". Teams would find their next clue at the end of the long trail.The race to the Pit Stop was tight with two teams in a close foot race, but one team could not make it in fast enough which resulted in their elimination.
The three remaining teams compete for the million first-place prize as the second edition of the race around the world concludes. "It is a truly sensational finish," reports host Phil Keoghan. "I was standing at the finish line waiting for the teams to come in and thinking 'This is what reality television is all about. To be here right now and not know which team is going to run up first and collect the money.' " The pairs still in the hunt are lifelong friends Chris and Alex, brother-sister combo Blake and Paige, and separated couple Tara and Wil. The final dash includes stops in Hawaii and Alaska before ending in San Francisco.
