It started off as a rainy Sunday but that didn't deter the 5 teams from turning up to start their day bright and early...although some needed more coaxing and wake-up calls than others!!
The race began at about 10.00pm at Carlton Gardens. As you've watched in the actual Amazing Race TV show, we soon learnt that the fastest are not necessary the quickest- it really depends on your sheer luck sometimes- whether your team's clues have mysteriously disappeared, whether you catch the tram just on time or have to wait 10 minutes for it, whether you misinterpret the clue and go the wrong way, whether you accidentally jump aboard the wrong tram or take the long way....
As it was, all of the above happened plus more- the race also just HAD to fall on the one day most of the tram lines were under repair!!!
Although some of us visited the stations in different orders, here's basically the list:
STOP 1:
Carlton Gardens- each team was assigned their own 'plot of land' and had to find the clues hidden in the garden.
STOP 2:
THE CLUE: Heffenan Lane will enlighten you!
THE DESTINATION: Heffenan Lane which is located between Russell and Swanston Street, Lonsdale and Little Bourke Street.
THE TASK: We were given a paper with quotes to complete and had to search for them on various signboards in the lane.
STOP 3:
THE CLUE: Only one single word- "GUGGENHEIM".
THE DESTINATION: The National Gallery of Victoria at St Kilda Road which was having its Guggenheim exhibition.
THE TASK: Run inside and all over the place and find the answers to various questions such as how many horses they were on a stone sculpture and who designed the glass hall.
STOP 4:
THE CLUE: Simply the picture of the guy in this week's Question of The Week.
THE DESTINATION: The Parliament House at Spring Street.
THE TASK: Draw what Australia means to you on a piece of paper then explain it to the camera. Oh, and don't forget to sing that Qantas "I STILL CALL AUSTRALIA HOME" song at the top of your lungs on the parliament steps for the whole world to stop and stare and wonder what's up with these crazy bunch of Asians.
STOP 5:
THE CLUE: The front page of an exam sheet.
THE DESTINATION: The Royal Exhibition Building at Carlton Gardens (where most faculties have their exams).
THE TASK: Learn a dance routine and perform it for the camera.
STOP 6:
THE CLUE: What infamous criminal was executed at the Melbourne Gaol and when? (Take the City Circle tram and find out!)
THE DESTINATION: The city circle tram heading for the gaol!
THE TASK: Listening to the commentary over the noisy people in the tram to find out it was Ned Kelly in 1880.
STOP 7:
THE CLUE: A picture of pirate skull/ship with the name Sea Shepphard
THE DESTINATION: Docklands Habour to find the Save-The-Whale ship called Sea Shepphard
THE TASK: Make up a skit (which was different for each team but generally involved plastic swords, pirates, sea monsters and deaths in one way or another) and act it out for the camera. (mind you there were people everywhere!)
STOP 8:
THE CLUE: A picture of Victoria Market with an instruction to find Vee.
THE DESTINATION: Victoria Market on Elizabeth Street
THE TASK: Well, first there was the task of finding a girl dressed in black and her sunnies who could be anywhere in the gigantic market (this took quite a long time for some teams!). Once we got there, we had to get a 'Pink Lady' for each member (the organisers probably decided people would guess too easily it were apples so put a picture of a playboy bunny next to the instruction to screw us up); and also go to some reptile shop and count the number of water snakes (first you had to realise there were TWO tanks, secondly you had to try and count them while they were wriggling and slithering all over the place and tangling themselves up with each other).
STOP 9:
THE CLUE: All the clues so far had numbers written on the corner of them. Putting all the numbers together and figuring out what they meant would bring you to your next station.
THE TASK: Realising they weren't intelligent codes or should be translated into letters or anything like that- it was Shawna's telephone number and you had to call her for your next destination!
THE DESTINATION: Flagstaff Gardens for the finishing line + BBQ
The winners of the race was team 'Eekies' comprising of Amabel, Jojo, Aileen (Jojo's sister), and Beatrice. Congratulations to them! :)
The whole race took roughly 3-4 hours in total and was probably more difficult and tiring than anyone expected! However, all in all, it was also heaps of fun and was a real challenge to most. We ate our fill and went home with aches all over our body from the running.
Heaps of thanks to the organisers- Bud, Vee and Shawna for putting together the amazing day!! It was certainly nothing like any of us had ever done before and was quite a new and awesome experience! Hopefully we can make this an annual event!! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment