Tyler Atkins

The Amazing Race Australia 1 is the first season of The Amazing Race Australia, an Australian reality competition show based on the American series The Amazing Race. Hosted by Grant Bowler, it featured eleven teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationship, in a race around the world to win the grand prize of A$250,000. The show was produced by activeTV Australia. This season visited four con...

The Amazing Race Australia 1 is the first season of The Amazing Race Australia, an Australian reality competition show based on the American series The Amazing Race. Hosted by Grant Bowler, it featured eleven teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationship, in a race around the world to win the grand prize of A$250,000. The show was produced by activeTV Australia. This season visited four continents and eleven countries and travelled over 50,000 kilometres (31,000 mi) during twelve legs. Starting in Melbourne, racers travelled through Indonesia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Macau, South Africa, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Poland, Israel, Sri Lanka and Singapore before returning to Australia and finishing in Perth. The show premiered on Australia's Seven Network on 16 May 2011. The season finale aired on 1 August 2011. Best friends and surfers Tyler Atkins and Nathan Jolliffe were the winners of this season, while models and friends Sam Schoers and Renae Wauhop finished in second place and father and son Jeff and Luke Downes finished in third place. Production Filming and development Filming began on 5 November 2010 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne. One day later, actor and former host of The Mole Grant Bowler was announced as the show's host. The season travelled across four continents, 11 countries and 23 cities. Some of the countries visited during the series include Indonesia and Israel. Casting Application deadline for the first series closed on 17 September 2010 (extended from 6 September 2010) initially with the applicants required to be at least 18 years old with citizenship or permanent residency. However, due to insurance issues overseas, the minimum age for applicants was raised from 18 to 21. Marketing The Amazing Race Australia was sponsored by Canon, National Australia Bank, Honda, Vodafone and Gloria Jean's Coffees. Cast The cast included married fitness entrepreneurs, farmers, friends of Egyptian descent, models, Big W workmates and reunited sisters. Notably, Nathan, who teamed up with Tyler, is the boyfriend of 2006 Miss Australia, Erin McNaught. Renae was also the runner up of Miss Universe Australia 2010. Entrepreneurs Richard & Joey Marc were the authors of Please Mum, Don't Supersize Me! Ryot & Liberty were the brother and sister of Rebel Wilson. Subsequent appearances Nathan Joliffe later competed on the second season of The Celebrity Apprentice Australia. Richard & Joey had a television show on Foxtel called Feel Good TV. After this season, Mel Greig replaced Maude Garrett as a co-host of the Hot30 Countdown on the Today Radio Network, where she later gained international notoriety for her role in a controversial prank call to an English hospital that was treating Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge for morning sickness. Subsequently, she also appeared on the fourth season of The Celebrity Apprentice Australia. Mo El-Leissy had a role on a Muslim sketch comedy show on SBS called Legally Brown. In 2019, Sam Schoers competed in the sixth season of Australian Survivor. Results The following teams are listed with their placements in each leg. Placements are listed in finishing order. A red placement with a dagger (†) indicates that the team was eliminated. An underlined blue placement with a double-dagger (‡) indicates that the team was the last to arrive at a Pit Stop in a non-elimination leg and was "marked for elimination" in the following leg. An italicized and underlined placement indicates that the team was the last to arrive at a Pit Stop, but there was no rest period at the Pit Stop and all teams were instructed to continue racing. A green ƒ indicates that the team won the Fast Forward. A purple ε indicates that the team used an Express Pass on that leg to bypass one of their tasks. A brown ⊃ indicates that the team used the U-Turn and a brown ⊂ indicates the team on the receiving end of the U-Turn. A violet + indicates that the teams encountered an Intersection. Notes Race summary Leg 1 (Australia → Indonesia) Episode 1: "Nothing's Smooth Sailing with Us" (16 May 2011) Prizes: A$10,000 and the Express Pass (awarded to Sam & Renae) Locations Melbourne, Victoria (Melbourne Cricket Ground) (Starting Line) Melbourne → Denpasar, Indonesia Denpasar (BlueWater Express) → Mataram (Tandjoengkarang Fishing Village) Mataram (Pura Lingsar) Mataram (Mandalika Market) Malaka (Malimbu Beach) → Gili Trawangan (Main Beach) Gili Trawangan (Halik Reef) Gili Trawangan (Sunset Point) Episode summary In this series' first Roadblock at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, one team member had to scale 75 metres (246 ft) up one of the six light towers, retrieve their next clue and then abseil down to their partner. Teams were instructed to fly to Denpasar on the island of Bali. Once there, teams had to sign up for one of three boats leaving the next morning for the island of Lombok. The first boat carried the first three teams, while the remaining boats, leaving in 30-minute intervals after the first, could carry four teams each. Once on Lombok, teams had to search the Tandjoengkarang fishing village for their next clue, which was hidden under the nets of a fishing boat on Mapak Beach. Teams then went to Pura Lingsar Temple and had to run through a rice cake war ritual called perang topat, where they were pelted with rice cakes and powder by locals, in order to retrieve their next clue. This series's first Detour was a choice between Cash or Carry. In Cash, teams had to make and sell 15 bowls of bakso for no less than Rp 5,000 per bowl before exchanging their earnings with the stall owner for their next clue. In Carry, both team members had to carry a basket of produce on their heads from one market stall to another without dropping the baskets in order to receive their next clue. From Malimbu Beach, teams had to ride an outrigger to Gili Trawangan. Once there, both team members had to don snorkelling gear and swim to Halik Reef, where one member had to retrieve a briefcase. After returning to shore, teams had to correctly count the money in the briefcase in order to receive their next clue, which instructed them to travel by a horse-drawn carriage called a cidomo to the Pit Stop at Sunset Point. Additional note This was a non-elimination leg. Leg 2 (Indonesia → Vietnam) Episode 2: "Like Four Seasons in a Day" (23 May 2011) Prizes: Two tickets to the 2011 AFL Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and a VIP tour of the National Sports Museum (awarded to Tyler & Nathan) Eliminated: Ryot & Liberty Locations Mataram (Tandjoengkarang Fishing Village) Mataram or Denpasar → Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon Opera House) Ho Chi Minh City → Huế Huế (Trần Thanh Mại Garage) Huế (Bằng Chicken Farm or Rice Paddy Field) Hương Thủy (Khải Định Tomb) Hương Trà (Tomb of Minh Mạng) & Hương Thủy (Khải Định Tomb) Huế (Huế Citadel) Episode summary At the start of this leg, teams were instructed to fly to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Teams could either take a fast boat back to Denpasar to book a flight to Ho Chi Minh City or they could book a flight directly from the island of Lombok. Once there, teams had to travel to the Saigon Opera House, where they had to search amongst hundreds of women wearing nón lás and find the one woman who had their team name written on her fan, which they could exchange for their next clue. Teams were then instructed to fly to Huế. Once there, teams had to go to Trần Thanh Mại Garage, where they had to change the two rear tyres and motor oil of an ex-army jeep in order to receive their next clue. Teams could then use the jeep as their transportation for the rest of the leg. This leg's Detour was a choice between Carry Fowl or Carabao. In Carry Fowl, teams had to travel to Bằng Chicken Farm, where they had to gather 20 live chickens and carry them in đòn gánhs to a marked stall at a nearby market in order to receive their next clue. In Carabao, teams had to travel to a rice paddy, where they use an ox-drawn plow to till the soil until the plow caught a buried rope attached to an Amazing Race flag, which they could exchange for their next clue. After the Detour, teams found their next clue at the Khải Định Tomb in Hương Thủy. In this leg's Roadblock, one team member had to retrieve seven coins representing the seven emperors of the Nguyễn dynasty at the Tomb of Minh Mạng and then bring them back to the Khải Định Tomb, where they had to place the coins in chronological order based on the emperors' reigns in order to receive their next clue directing them to the Pit Stop: Huế Citadel. Additional note All route markers in Vietnam were coloured yellow and green instead of yellow and red, so as to avoid confusion with the former South Vietnamese national flag, which was also yellow and red. Leg 3 (Vietnam → Hong Kong → Macau) Episode 3: "We've Got Pain, But We've Not Lost Any Weight" (30 May 2011) Prize: A$10,000 (awarded to Richard & Joey) Eliminated: Anne-Marie & Tracy Locations Huế (Huế Citadel) Huế → Hong Kong Hong Kong (Aberdeen – Aberdeen Marina Club (in Chinese) → Jumbo Floating Restaurant) Hong Kong (Causeway Bay – Tin Hau Temple) Hong Kong (Kowloon – Kowloon Walled City Park) Hong Kong → Macau Macau (Cotai – The Venetian Macao) Macau (Coloane – A Ma Cultural Village) Episode summary At the start of this leg, teams were instructed to fly to Hong Kong. Once there, teams had to travel by ferry to the Jumbo Floating Restaurant, where they had to bite into over a thousand fortune cookies until they found one with a specific message inside telling them to receive their next clue from the waiter. This season's only Fast Forward required one team to completely have their heads shaved. Richard & Joey won the Fast Forward. This leg's Detour was a choice between Lion Dance or Kung Fu Stance. For both Detour options, teams had to travel to the Kowloon Walled City Park. In Lion Dance, teams had to dress up and perform a traditional lion dance to the dance master's satisfaction in order to receive their next clue. In Kung Fu Stance, teams had to perform a series of precise kung fu moves to the kung fu master's satisfaction, and then both team members had to break six clay tiles in order to receive their next clue. After the Detour, teams were instructed to travel by ferry to Macau. Once there, teams had to travel to The Venetian Macao, where they had to don formal attire and play Baccarat with a dealer. Each time teams won a game, they earned a Mahjong lettered tile, and after they won ten games, the titles revealed the next location of their next clue: A MA VILLAGE. In this leg's Roadblock, one team member had to arrange twelve paper lanterns depicting the animals of the Chinese zodiac in chronological order using clues given to them. Once the animals were in the correct order – rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig – a gate opened that allowed teams entrance to the Pit Stop. Sam & Renae used their Express Pass to bypass this Roadblock. Leg 4 (Macau → South Africa) Episode 4: "A Town That Was 15-20 Letters Long" (6 June 2011) Prize: A$5,000 shopping spree at Kathmandu (awarded to Matt & Tom) Eliminated: Richard & Joey Locations Macau (Santo António – Ruins of Saint Paul's) Macau or Hong Kong → Port Elizabeth, South Africa (Port Elizabeth International Airport) Graaff-Reinet (Camdeboo National Park – Valley of Desolation) Port Elizabeth (Kragga Kamma Game Park) Garden Route National Park (Bloukrans Bridge) Addo (Nomathamsanqa) Addo (Addo Elephant National Park) Episode summary At the start of this leg, teams were instructed to fly to Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Once there, teams had to search the airport parking lot for a marked car with a clue inside the windscreen that instructed them to drive to Camdeboo National Park and search the Valley of Desolation for their next clue. This leg's Detour was a choice between Smash or Bash. For both Detour op