Ararat Amazing Race

Looking for conference break out sessions that get people off their phones and actually talking? Or searching for fun corporate team building activities in Victoria that don’t feel awkward or forced?

Our latest Amazing Race team building event in Ararat, VIC delivered exactly that… with a slightly unexpected checkpoint at a lunatic asylum.

Yes, really.

We recently hosted a custom corporate Amazing Race around Ararat for 17 participants split into 4 teams during their conference. The group kicked things off at their conference venue just outside of town before receiving their first clues, sealed envelopes in hand and competitive energy already rising.

The first challenge? Drive into Ararat… but not before making a stop at one of the town’s most unexpected landmarks, the historic lunatic asylum precinct. Safe to say, nobody had “haunted history vibes” on their conference agenda that morning.

After surviving that checkpoint, teams headed into town where things became even stranger.

Find Wally… Who Was Actually Their Boss

The next mission sent teams searching through shops around the Ararat town square to locate Wally.

Except Wally wasn’t a cardboard cut-out.

Wally was their boss, Fully dressed up, Hiding in plain sight.

Some teams found him quickly. Others managed to walk straight past multiple times while becoming increasingly convinced they’d been set up.

(They had)

Once Wally was located and the next clue unlocked, the teams ditched the cars and tackled the remainder of the race on foot through Ararat.

Challenges Included More Than Just Running Around Town

Throughout the race, teams tackled a mix of team bonding activities, problem solving and ridiculous challenges designed to pull different personalities into the spotlight.

Some of the favourites included:

✅ Bucket Catch Challenge – coordination, communication and plenty of missed catches
✅ Block Stack – patience under pressure… something several teams discovered they didn’t have
✅ Symbol Decoding Puzzle – testing logic and teamwork against the clock
✅ Cheer Routine Challenge – because sometimes conference delegates need to perform impromptu chants in public

The cheer routines may have caused permanent embarrassment. They also caused the loudest laughs of the day.

That’s usually a good sign.

Why Amazing Races Work So Well as Conference Break Out Sessions

One of the biggest reasons companies book our conference breakout activities across Victoria is because they naturally engage different people.

The loud personalities compete.

The quiet planners solve clues.

Someone unexpectedly becomes excellent at stacking blocks.

Someone else spends 20 minutes insisting north is south.

Everyone contributes.

That’s why Amazing Race team building events continue to be one of our most popular team building ideas for conferences, leadership days and corporate offsites across regional Victoria.

They create genuine interaction without forcing awkward networking.

The Final Checkpoint? The Pub.

After navigating Ararat, surviving puzzles, spotting Wally and attempting cheer routines, teams made their way to the final destination:

The pub.

Because every good corporate team building activity in Victoria deserves a proper finish line.

Scores were tallied, winners celebrated, wooden spoons handed out, and questionable strategic decisions were debated over drinks.

Exactly how team bonding should end.