The Block Outback

The 2021 series is in a badlands Wild West map at 38 - 46 Rucko Valley Road in 6 replicated houses from Outback Australia. The aim of this series is to push Australian tourism, there is also a “Holiday Here This Year” campaign which is to encourage people to holiday in Australia rather than travelling overseas to support Australian businesses, and you will see there are endless places to see just in your backyard! This series is nicknamed The Block Outback and is hosted by BLOCK9 and contestants will be encouraged to style their houses on the area their house is based on. This series will also include 2 returning teams. The series started on 10 June 2021.

### The contestants

Jackson (16) and Hannah (16) Melbourne VIC, Together 1 year.

Brock (14) and Ashley (13) Ipswich QLD, Together 1 year.

Ryan (16) and Jacob (17) Exmouth WA, Best friends.

Beccy (19) and Ethan (18) Sydney NSW, Together 3 years.

Lucy (16) and Declan (15) Esperance WA, Block Behind Bars, 2019.

Kate (24) and Fernando (25) Gold Coast, QLD, The Block Aquatic, 2018.

## House 1: Longreach - Brock and Ashley

### Longreach

Longreach is the heart of the Outback in Central West Queensland about 700 km west of Rockhampton. Longreach is the home of the Australian Stockmans Hall of Fame, which was opened by Queen Elizabeth II and was also one of the founding places of Qantas in 1920. Longreach was named as a description of the “long reach” of the Thomson River.

### The House

Longreach doesn't have the high houses like in other parts of Queensland. this house was picked due to its 1990s Queenslander feel, the original house is located at 10 Jabiru Street, Longreach QLD 4730.

### The Contestants

Brock (14) and Ashley (13) have been together for 1 year and are from Ipswich, Queensland and have both played Minecraft for 5 years. They have built a house together on a private server with their friends and they have both defeated the Ender Dragon 7 times!

### Challenge

Brock and Ashley came first in the challenge to win first choice and unsurprisingly chose House 1 being the one next to the river!

### Room Wins

* Brock and Ashley won Guest Bedroom Week in Week 1 with an impressive 27 and a half, second were Lucy and Declan with 27, third were Ryan and Jacob with 26, fourth were Beccy and Ethan with 25.5, fifth were Jackson and Hannah with 25 and the chumps were Kate and Fernando with 24.
* Brock and Ashley won Guest Bathroom Week in Week 2 with a score of 29, second were Lucy and Declan with 28 and a half, Equal third were Beccy and Ethan and Ryan and Jacob with 27 and a half and Jackson and Hannah and Kate and Fernando are equal chumps with 25 and a half.
* Brock and Ashley tied with Jackson and Hannah in Front Garden week in Week 12 with a PERFECT 30! Equal third were Kate and Fernando and Ryan and Jacob with 29 and a half, Fifth was Lucy and Declan with 28 and a half and Beccy and Ethan were chumps with 27 and a half.

## House 2: Alice Springs - Lucy and Declan

### Alice Springs

Alice Springs is the third biggest city in the Northern Territory, the area is known as Mparntwe to its original inhabitants, the Arrernte people, who lived in the Alice Springs Area for at least 30,000 years. Alice Springs is also the art capital of Australia, with more art galleries per population than anywhere else in Australia. Alice Springs is also home for hosting festivals with the Camel Cup and Desert Festival.

### The House

Alice Springs is a growing city, with many new suburbs coming up in the last 10 years. The newer houses are usually made out of renewable materials such as corrugated iron. The house chosen for the series is an older 1903 house with the house next door on both sides almost exactly the same.

### The Contestants

Lucy (16) and Declan (15) have been together for 2 years and loving Minecraft more since being on the 2019 Behind Bars series they are both more combat fans than construction. Lucy is still a ballet dancer and Declan is still a video gamer but he now has a lot more fans in the online games he plays!

### Challenge

Lucy and Declan came fourth in the challenge (the highest placed of the 2 all star teams) so they chose House number 2 due to the similar looks to the Impel Down prison, which they were part of renovating in 2019.

### Room Wins

* Lucy and Declan won Master Bedroom week in Week 4 with a score of 28 and a half, Equal second were Kate and Fernando and Brock and Ashley with 27 and a half, Fourth were Jackson and Hannah with 27 and the equal chumps were Beccy and Ethan and Ryan and Jacob with 26 and a half
* Lucy and Declan won Ensuite week in Week 5 with a score of 29, second were Beccy and Ethan with 28 and a half, Third were Brock and Ashley with 28, Equal fourth were Jackson and Hannah and Kate and Fernando with 26 and Ryan and Jacob were chumps for the third week in a row with 24
* Lucy and Declan won Living and Dining week with a PERFECT SCORE OF 30! They got a perfect score in their first house in Behind Bars in 2019 as well, lucky! Second were Beccy and Ethan with 29 and a half, Equal Third were Brock and Ashley and Kate and Fernando with 28 and a half, Fifth were Ryan and Jacob with 25 and Jackson and Hannah were chumps with 24 and a half.

## House 3: Cairns - Beccy and Ethan

### Cairns

Cairns is a tropical coastal city on the east coast of Far North Queensland, it is the 5th most populous city in Queensland and the 14th in Australia, Cairns also has a sister city it’s Riga, in Latvia. Cairns also has Queensland’s highest mountain, Mount Bartle Frere which is 1,617 metres high! And is the home to the Cassowary, the worlds most dangerous bird. Cairns is the gateway to 2 of the worlds greatest natural attractions, the Great Barrier Reef and the Wet Tropics Rainforest.

### The House

Cairns houses are often high on stilts, including in Cairns and the house chosen for The Block Minecraft, Queenslanders are often on stilts due to the risk of flooding, high temperatures and pest infections.

### The Contestants

Beccy (19) and Ethan (18) are from Sydney, NSW and have been together for 3 years. Beccy works in a supermarket and Ethan works in a cafe. They play Minecraft in their downtime when they don’t have school or study but since they have less work due to the COVID-19 pandemic they decided to apply for The Block Minecraft!

### Challenge

Beccy and Ethan came last in the challenge and scored House 3, they were saying “Who wouldn’t want a Cairns house!”

### Room Wins

* Beccy and Ethan won Rest of House week in Week 10 with a perfect score of 30! Equal second were Brock and Ashley and Ryan and Jacob with 29, Fourth were Lucy and Declan with 28.5, Fifth were Kate and Fernando with 28 and the chumps were Jackson and Hannah with 27 and a half.
* Beccy and Ethan won Backyard week in Week 11 with a score of 29 and a half, Equal second was Brock and Ashley and Ryan and Jacob with 29, Equal fourth were Lucy and Declan and Jackson and Hannah with 28 and the chumps were Kate and Fernando with 27 and a half.

## House 4: Coober Pedy - Ryan and Jacob

### Coober Pedy

About 150 Million years ago Coober Pedy was underwater! Nowadays Coober Pedy is famous for opals (wish they were being added to Minecraft!) and the underground life, Coober Pedy can reach up to 53 degrees Celsius and it hardly ever rains there. According to Amusing Planet, there are also over 250,000 mineshafts in and around the town. The name Coober Pedy means “Boys Waterhole” and the local football club has to travel 500 kilometres for every away game!

### The House

Due to the extreme temperatures, many houses in Coober Pedy are underground or partially underground, the chosen house for the series however does not have any underground area but it does have a pool and water tanks so you can enjoy the heat.

### The Contestants

Ryan (16) and Jacob (17) are best friend from Exmouth in northern Western Australia, these boys have a passion for Australia and have both been around Australia and their favourite places are Exmouth (their home town), Byron Bay, Ballarat, Mallacoota, the Gold Coast and Coober Pedy. They are not very familiar to Minecraft but due to the COVID-19 pandemic they decided to play Minecraft so they had something to do together!

### Challenge

The boys came second in the challenge, and chose House 4 due to their love of Coober Pedy.

### Room Wins

* Ryan and Jacob won Caves and Cliffs week in Week 8 with an impressive score of 29 and a half, second were Brock and Ashley with 29, Equal third were Lucy and Declan and Jackson and Hannah with 28, Fifth were Kate and Fernando with 27 and a half and Beccy and Ethan were the chumps with 24 and a half.

## House 5: Broken Hill - Jackson and Hannah

### Broken Hill

Broken Hill, Nicknamed the Silver City is a mining town in Western New South Wales. Broken Hill was the only place in Australia to have an enemy attack in World War I, four months before the Gallipoli campaign. Broken Hill is one of the longest continuing mining towns in the world and is the first city in Australia to included in the National Heritage List in 2013.

### The House

Coober Pedy is known for its underground houses but what you didn’t know many houses in Broken Hill are also underground and a nearby town built entirely underground, imagine giving Coober Pedy all the credit! The represented house also does not have any underground area.

### The Contestants

Jackson and Hannah (both 16) have been together for one year and are both passionate about nature and animals. They did make a nature park in Minecraft with their dream house in January 2021 but other than that they don’t have a lot of Minecraft experience.

### Challenge

Jackson and Hannah came third in the challenge and picked House 5.

### Room Wins

* Jackson and Hannah won Formal Lounge Week in Week 3 with a score of 28, second was Beccy and Ethan with 27, third were Lucy and Declan with 26 and a half, fourth was Brock and Ashley with 26, fifth were Kate and Fernando with 25 and Ryan and Jacob were the chumps with 23 and a half.
* Jackson and Hannah won Hell Week in Week 9 with a score of 28, equal second were Brock and Ashley and Lucy and Declan with 27 and a half, fourth were Kate and Fernando with 27 and the equal chumps were Beccy and Ethan and Ryan and Jacob with 26 and a half.
* Jackson and Hannah tied with Brock and Ashley in Front Garden week in Week 12 with a PERFECT 30! Equal third were Kate and Fernando and Ryan and Jacob with 29 and a half, Fifth was Lucy and Declan with 28 and a half and Beccy and Ethan were chumps with 27 and a half.

## House 6: Kalgoorlie - Kate and Fernando

### Kalgoorlie

Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields region of Western Australia about 595km east of Perth, it is named after the Wangai word which means “place of silky pairs” Kalgoorlie was established in 1893 during the West Australian Gold Rush. The super pit gold mine was Australia’s largest open cut gold mine for many years where about 15 million tonnes of rock is moved from the the super pit each year. It is also home to Australia’s only legalised two-up school and a pub that a horse calls it’s home.

### The House

Kalgoorlie, although a small town has a wide range of housing styles dating from the late 1800s to current day, and there is not as much a typical style unlike some of the other towns on this series. The chosen house was built in 1972 and looks like a suburban home in the outskirts of any of Australia’s capital cities.

### The Contestants

Kate (24) and Fernando (25) have been married for 3 and a half years and are Minecraft professionals now after being on the 2018 series of The Block Aquatic they have built and renovated 16 or 17 properties in Minecraft in both Java and Bedrock editions.

### Challenge

Kate and Fernando came fifth in the challenge and chose House 6 over House 3.

### Room Wins

* Kate and Fernando won Kitchen week in Week 7 with a PERFECT 3O! second were Brock and Ashley with 29, third were Lucy and Declan with 28 and a half, equal fourth were Beccy and Ethan and Jackson and Hannah with 27 and a half and Ryan and Jacob were the chumps with a disappointing 24.

Previous Season: Through Time Next Season: Wild Return