Amazing Race Australia! (Aug '10)

I don't know why I never really watched it before I was married, but since then, Varian and I have really enjoyed watching the Amazing Race together. Well last year they announced for the first time that they were going to do an Australian Amazing Race - of Australian contestants going all over the world in a race for a quarter of a million dollars.

 

Varian really wanted to apply and asked his sister Leah to go with him. They went with the "We're Mormons" angle and hoped they'd be picked as the brother-sister combo team. (Which by the way, don't you love that photo of them filming at the top!)

They were very bummed not to be chosen over this bro/sis team that made it: Ryot and Liberty. R&L made it to only the second leg of the race and were the very first team to be eliminated. It's a shame too. I bet Varian and Leah would have done really well. They're both experienced travelers, intelligent and very competitive.

They filmed their video audition over two days and their sister Alana edited the hours of footage into just the short clip at the bottom of this post. I mostly looked after Jaren that day and here is a cute picture of him on the swings for the first time while we waited at Wellington park as they filmed the beach shots.

We did also have a cameo appearance as Varian pretended to street contact us as a missionary, but sadly it didn't make the cut. But if you do look closely you can see he's wearing my "Hermana Wood" badge.

It's been months now since I've watched this clip. I cringe at the fat people comment, a little at the wife joke since I am his "more than enough" wife and I remember how we'd all awkwardly laugh and gasp at the dead pan face after Varian's somewhat harsh comment. But again they filmed for hours and tried to make a short clip of things that would catch attention and make the judges want them on the show. So watch the video and enjoy. Maybe Varian will apply again one day. Hopefully when the prize $ has gone up to a million dollars and he and I go together to bond and become the first winners of The Amazing Race Auserica. :)