After a tough final race to the top of Mount Kosciuszko, The Cowboys Brendon Crawley and Jackson Dening, were first to cross the finish line, sensationally winning The Amazing Race Australia and the $250,000 cash prize.
With three fiercely strong teams starting the finale, every second of this last leg was crucial. The remaining three teams travelled from Sydney, to Canberra and then the Snowy Mountains in the last of this 24 leg race. They had one of the strongest three-way alliances ever, but now it was every team for themselves.
Their first challenge was a Roadblock in Canberra, ACT, where teams went to Lake Burleigh Griffin to ride a flight board for 10 seconds, before receiving their next clue. After many, many, many (did we mention, many?) attempts, Jackson managed to finish the challenge first.
Next up, it was off to the lawns of Parliament House, where teams assembled two giant puzzles of an Aboriginal Flag and the Australian National Flag.
The Cowboys finished their puzzles first, but after calling for a check, they were told they had the Australian Flag back to front, which allowed The Gold Coast Girls to get in front. But their lead didn’t last long when, Ashleigh and Amanda’s cab driver took a wrong turn and pushed them to last place.
Get to the chopper! In the next challenge, teams travelled via helicopter to Thredbo. One team member had to climb out of the chopper on a rope ladder, and grab the clue halfway down the ladder, before jumping into the freezing cold water below.
For the next challenge, teams took a gondola to Friday Flat. After disembarking the gondola seconds apart, The Cowboys and The Gold Coast Girls went head-to-head in a foot race to the start of the next challenge. Jackson had to stop several times for a not-so-sneaky vomit, allowing Ashleigh and Amanda to overtake and reach the top of a super-sized slip-and-slide first.
Here, the teams slid down the hill and collected several flags along the way. With an empty tummy and only two attempts under their belts, The Cowboys finished first.
Meanwhile, The Super Sikhs Jas and Anurag, couldn’t locate the gondola and walked up the steep hill to reach the challenge. When they arrived, it was a struggle to start the slip and slide.
For their final challenge of the race, and with a little help from some eliminated teams, they had to match an obscure law with a state or territory in Australia. For each state or territory law they matched, they received a bag of puzzle pieces. When they had received all eight bags, they began the puzzle, which was matching the Indigenous mobs on the map of Australia.
Once their puzzles were complete, teams raced up Mount Kosciuszko to Beau Ryan who was waiting at the finish line. With The Gold Coast Girls hot on their heels, The Cowboys dug deep to climb the mountain first, and were over the moon when Beau named them winners of The Amazing Race Australia.
In close second was The Gold Coast Girls, Ashleigh and Amanda, who raced valiantly and proved that women can do anything! In third place were The Super Sikhs, Jaskirat and Anurag, who showed Australia what the Sikh fighting spirit is all about.
