Survivor: The Australian Outback was the second season of the United States reality show Survivor. It was filmed at Goshen Station in northern Queensland during 2000 and was shown on TV from January 28, 2001 to May 3, 2001 on CBS. The location used was within a three hour drive from the city of Cairns and was in a wet, sub-tropical area. Nielsen Ratings says it was the highest rated show of 2001.

Fourteen episode were shown, one every week. The winner, Tina Wesson, was announced on May 3, 2001 where she won against Colby Donaldson by a vote of 4-3.
 
The entire season was made available on DVD on April 26, 2005.

Well-known events
Although the first episode was shown right after Super Bowl XXXV, the late hour made CBS want to show the first episode again later that week.

The elimination of player Michael Skupin during the sixth episode is well known for being the first case where a Survivor player has had to be removed because of an injury. While trying to start a fire, Skupin breathed in smoke and fainted, falling into the fire getting really bad burns to his hands. After being cared for by medical personnel, a helicopter was brought in and Skupin was removed from the game. Because of his removal, there was no Immunity Challenge, so there was no Tribal Council. Because of this, the Ogakor and Kucha tribes merged (combined) with the same number of tribe members, instead of the possible six to four (which would have happened if Ogakor lost the Immunity Challenge and gone to Tribal Council). At the first merged Tribal Council, Jeff Varner was voted off after a tie vote between the two old tribes.

During a reward trip, player and future runner-up Colby Donaldson broke an Australian law by breaking off coral from the Great Barrier Reef which could have gave him a fine of AU$110,000. The helicopter pilot in the reward trip also broke an Australian law as he flew over sea bird rookeries. Survivor's producer Mark Burnett said sorry on behalf of Colby and the production team after the season had been shown.

The game lasted 42 days, instead of 39 days. This seson also started the Survivor tradition of showing who won live, so that none of the players would know who won until the finale (last episode).

During a reward on Day 34 where the five players left were allowed to talk with their family members, old Ogakor member Keith Famie asked his girlfriend to marry him, and she said yes.

After filming
After the show, fourth-place finisher Elisabeth Filarski went on to co-host talk show The View. She, Tina Wesson, Colby Donaldson, Jerri Manthey, Alicia Calaway and Amber Brkich were asked to return in Survivor: All-Stars. Filarski was the only one who didn't return in the All-Stars season. She wanted to focus on hosting The View, while Wesson, Donaldson, Manthey, Calaway, and Brkich placed 18th, 12th, 10th, 7th, and 1st. Brkich won against fellow player and future husband Rob "Boston Rob" Mariano who had played before in the series' fourth season, Survivor: Marquesas  in a 4-3 vote. Donaldson and Manthey would return again in the Heroes vs. Villains season where they placed 5th, and 4th. Michael Skupin returned in the Philippines season, where he tied for 2nd. Wesson would return in the Blood vs. Water season, where she played with her daughter, Katie Collins, and placed 4th. Jeff Varner and Kimmi Kappenberg were voted into the Cambodia season, where they finished 16th, and 6th. Varner later played in the Game Changers season.

Players

The Total Votes is the number of votes a player got during Tribal Councils where the player was able to be voted out of the game. It does not count the votes they got during the final Tribal Council.

The game

If more than one tribe or player wins reward or immunity, they are listed in order of finish, or alphabetically if it was teamwork or if one player won and invited others, the players they invited are in brackets.

 Combined Reward and Immunity challenge.
 No immunity was given in Ep. 6 because of Michael's injury.
 There was no Reward Challenge due to tribal merge.

Voting history

 Keith and Mitchell were tied 3-3 at Tribal Council. In earlier Tribal Councils, Keith had no votes, but Mitchell had one; so he was eliminated.
 On Day 17 Michael fell into a fire and had to be removed due to injuries, as a result he was the sixth person to leave the game meaning no Tribal Council was held.
Colby and Jeff were tied 5-5 at Tribal Council and in earlier Tribal Councils,  Jeff had two votes, therefore, Jeff was eliminated

References

Other websites
Official CBS Survivor The Australian Outback Website

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