In a nutshell- Go to Repulse Bay, but not until day.  To fast forward, or not to fast forward?  That is the question.  Paddle a dragon or stick your head in a lion.  If you survive, the Sydney Opera House is your next stop.  Smart teams go shopping, ride to the airport in style, and still manage to gain 30 minutes on the other teams.  Aussies speak English, right?  Sortof.  The Surfie is wearing Lairy Daks, the Shiela is wearing an Aussie Cozzie, and I hope you know your Ankle Biters from your Bushies.  Teams return to kindergarten as they learn the lesson "Always read the directions first."  Get some rest on the roof of the Art Museum and get ready to do it again.

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     Gary/Dave leave from the Junk in Hong Kong Harbor in the middle of the night.  They are headed to the nearby Repulse Bay to find the Tien-Hou statue.   The statue, however, does not open until 8:00 in the morning.  So, the lead they had gained from the Fast Forward will quickly be whittled down to nothing.  They catch a bus, which Chris and Alex get on a few stops later.  Tara and Wil narrowly miss this bus, and decide to go for the fast forward.  Tara/Wil are concerned that Chris/Alex may have tried to go for the Fast Forward.  Tara tells Wil that she is sure they will not go for it because she told them that they were going to try to get it.   This infuriated Wil because he believes Chris/Alex will attempt the fast forward in order to screw up their plan.  When they arrive at a ferry dock and learn that a ferry has already left, they become paranoid and head off to the statue.  When they arrive there, Wil is surpised to see Chris/Alex there.  "So, we do have an alliance," Wil says.  Anyway, Blake/Paige have also made their way to the statue.  Oswald/Danny decided to go to the nicest hotel they could find and ask the concierge how to get there.  This plan works, eventually, and they arrive 5 minutes before the route marker opens.  The other teams seem amazed at how calm they look.  Danny explains that what the other teams don't know is that they were working the entire time to get there, and almost didn't make it.

     The teams are now headed to the Murray House, "a local architectural treasure."  They all jump into taxis and buses on their way to the house.  Blake/Paige are concerned because their driver does not speak English.  For some reason, they believe that the Murray House is located in the Western Part of the city, so they tell their driver to go that direction.  This, of course, is the wrong direction.  Tara/Wil, Chris/Alex, and Gary/Dave all arrive at the house at about the same time.  They discover that the clue there is a detour.  This week, the options are Dragon or Lion.  The Dragon option requires paddling a dragon boat 600 meters.  The trick is that the boat is designed to be paddled by twelve people, so they may have trouble navigating.  The Lion option requires teams to wear a ceremonial lion head costume and run 2400 meters.  Tara/Wil, Chris/Alex and Gary/Dave all choose the dragon option and get started.

     Blake/Paige meanwhile, have borrowed their cab driver's cell phone and called the local tourist information line.  They discover they are headed the wrong direction and hand off the phone to the driver whom they will grive directions to.  Oswald/Danny have arrived at the detour, and decide to try the Lion option.  They put on the head and take off.  Chris/Alex have little trouble paddling, but the other two teams struggle.  Chris/Alex finish first and grab the route information, which tells them they're headed to the steps of the Sydney Opera House.  They grab a taxi and race off to the airport.  Oswald/Danny are the next to finish (it appears the Lion option was much faster).  They spot a man watering his lawn and ask him to use his phone.  They attempt to make some reservations, but they also grab a taxi and head to a luxury hotel to ask the conceierge to recommend a good travel agent.

      Blake/Paige have finally arrived and choose the lion option.  Tara/Wil and, eventually, Gary/Dave finish paddling and also take taxis to the airport, as do Blake/Paige when they finish.  Oswald/Danny go to the travel agent who says they will have to wait an hour to get tickets.  They decide to go shopping while they are waiting.

      Chris/Alex, Tara/Wil and Gary/Dave, and Blake/Paige have booked reservations from Hong Kong to Sydney with a connecting stop in Bangkok.  Oswald/Danny go back to the travel agent and pick up their tickets which stops in Singapore rather than Bangkok.  They wonder whether they are first or last.  The other teams wonder where Oswald/Danny are.

     The editing makes us wonder which flight will arrive first.  It turns out, Oswald/Danny's flight beat the other flight, giving them a 30 minute head start.  They rush off to the Opera House in the early morning hours.  At about the same time they arrive at the Opera House, the other flight lands.  At the Opera House, they are handed a road block.  This week, the chosen team member will tour Sydney while following a series of clues written in Aussie slang.  Oswald reads the first clue which tells him to find a "Surfie in Lairy Daks."  He quickly finds someone who tells him that this means a "Surfer in colorful pants."  He gets the next clue, directing him to find a "true-blue ankle biter."

     As he looks for someone who knows what that means, the other teams arrive at the Opera House.  Alex and Dave take off, and soon after Wil and Blake take off.  Oswald, meanwhile, had discovered an ankle-biter is a child.  He finds a kid riding a blue bike who gives him the next clue.  Now he's off to find a "Shiela in an  Aussie Cozzie."  He determines that this means a girl in a swimsuit.  Alex has found found the surfer and head off to find the kid.  Wil and Blake both find the surfer, but neither of them fully read the first clue.  They both head back to the Opera House to gather their partners.  Danny, Chris and Gary all seem dumbfounded.  Actually, Tara does too as she questions whether Wil did the entire roadblock.  He says he did and they take off.  Danny, Chris and Gary all stand there with a concerned look on their faces.

     Oswald has now found the girl in the swimsuit, who directs him to find a "Bushie."  This turns out to be a "bushman," a man with a bird on his shoulder.  Oswald finds him as Alex finds the girl.  Oswald, finished with the road block, takes off toward the Opera House.  Alex is close behind him.

     Tara/Wil and Blake/Paige, meanwhile, have found the kid.  They also rush off to the girl in the swimsuit.  Oswald/Danny run to the Museum of Contemporary Art and arrive in first place.  Now, I'm still sort of confused.  Phil informs us that the winner of this leg will win a 7-day cruise.  I am still not sure if Oswald and Danny won it or whether it referred to the winner of the second half of the episode.  Regardless, Chris/Alex arrive in second place.  Gary/Dave arrive in third.

     As Tara/Wil arrive at the Bushie, the recieve the clue that says "Go back to your partner."  Tara suddenly realized they have just screwed up the entire roadblock.  They decide they must go back to the Opera House and have Wil start over completely.  Blake/Paige realize the exact same thing and head back.  Blake and Wil take off at about the same time.  Wil finishes a little bit faster than Blake/Paige.  The museum is within walking distance, but both teams take a taxi.  Tara/Wil soon realize their cabbie is taking them to the wrong museum.  The editing makes it vague exactly where Blake/Paige are going.  But, in the end, Tara/Wil arrive in fourth place.  Blake/Paige walk up soon after, and, after a pregnant pause, Phil informs them that this is a non-elimination leg.

     The second half of the episode summary is located at the link for episode 8b.

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