Survivor Maps has received a dozen reports and two, local confirmations that SEG is planning of filming S13 on the atoll. Containers have arrived and crew is trickling in. Read on about how we first thought the location was Panama.
Originally titled: Survivor Panama - Revisted, again and again...
Original post: You read that right. The next installment of Survivor may be filmed in Panama. We heard over a month ago from locals about SEG possibly returning. And a little birdy overheard some 'crew members' at the next table in an LA restaurant that S13 would be in Panama.
Posted here with Wezzie's permission:
Survivor: Cook Islands
The Voyage of the Spoilers
May 3, 2006
Back on December 25, 2005, Dan Bollinger and I received a Xmas tip, "Survivor is going to film in The Cook Islands and New Caledonia in 2006." But, around the same time, local and SEG sources revealed that Survivor was in returning to Panama, so Dan started the thread Panama Revisited..again and again
"The next installment of Survivor may be filmed in Panama. We heard over a month ago from locals about SEG possibly returning. And a little birdy overheard some crew members say that S13 would be in Panama."
The Panama thread exploded with posts. Page after page, fans bemoaned the thought of a fourth Survivor Panama. MyPoody heard the same rumor, but no one seemed to be pro-Panama... except Fokker. <wink>
Two weeks later, in a January 30 teleconference,
Question: "I've been hearing some fans say, "Panama, again?" Why are you guys going back to Panama?
Jeff Probst: Here's how our decisions for the location play out. We figure out either we have a destination like Palau where the theme presents itself, it's war and it's gonna be war relics and diving and old ships and planes and all of that stuff. Or we have a theme like we came up with this season, Exile Island, where the theme has nothing to do with the location. On the rare times when that's the case, we don't want to waste a great location because they are very hard to come by...
.. And without giving anything away, our next season, the destination is going to be the theme. We have a great destination. That's really how it works.
Panama was out.. Back to the boards.
I mentioned the tip we'd heard about Cook Islands, and people seemed to like the idea. AussieOriginal helped us find them, "The Cook Islands are about 2,000 kms (about 1,400 miles) away from New Zealand. In fact, the Cooks are not that far from Marquesas."
For seven pages we discussed "great destinations" including the Cook Islands, Greece, Egypt, New Zealand, Madagascar, Japan, Okinawa, the Philippines, India, China, and Australia, until one day in early March, Silvanocat posted that the Lonely Planet's Thorntree message board was talking about Survivor coming to Aitutaki, Cook Islands!! GAME ON!!
What makes the Cook Islands a "great destination"?
For one thing, the very first Survivor (BBC) was filmed there.
As far as Dan B's concerned, it's already on the map. He's predicting the camps will be on Rapota and Moturakau, "Mutiny Motel" on Akaiami. Filming on One Foot. Challenges on Tekopua.
SurvivorMaps, Aitutaki
Boating Restrictions
Outfrontgirl has been there and thinks it's a fabulous "destination"! Awhile ago, she set out to find an uspoiled, little-visited Pacific island group to visit, chose the Cooks, and fell in love with Aitutaki. She was thrilled to read Dan's news that Survivor might film there, and has been a treasure trove of information about Aitutaki's motus, culture, government, weather, reef... you name it.
The first westerner to visit Cook Islands was Captain Bligh, just days before the mutiny, although he never laid foot on the atoll.
The motu Rapota once held a leper colony.
Aitutaki was a refueling stop on the Coral Route of the Tasman Empire Airways Limited's (TEAL) service. The PBY seaplanes flew from Aukland-Samoa-Aitutaki-Tahiti and back. There is a Post Office at One Foot and Aitutaki will stamp passports because it used to be the gateway to the Cook Islands.
What proof do we have that Survivor is filming on Aitutaki?
For one thing, the Thorntree posts! They were concerned that Survivor would affect their trips, and they sure kept the coconut telegraph clicking.
An early Thorntree post, "Just came back from Aitutaki and yes it is true. The Crew has actually booked an entire resort (Are Tamanu) for 3 months (starting end of April/May)."
More recently, "Just got back from Aitutaki. Sydney who runs the Teal Retreat there told me that they are in negotiations with the Survivor crew at present and that filiming will take place from Akaiami all the way up to One Foot Island. He mentioned that Survivor Film Company is footing the bill for the poor people whose bookings have been cancelled. Over at Are Tamanu, one of the girls who works there pointed out some of the film crew to me that are already there."
..and from sources and research:
To Fokker: "The Aitutaki Pacific Resort assure me, no worries with diving anywhere near any of the activity going on with Survivor."
To Dan: "A lot of the accommodation on the Island has already been secured for the crew and cast."
To honeymooner paravicini00, "To my knowledge, the dates are yet to be finalised, but filming, should be completed by the end of July."
March 26, Outfrontgirl followed up a Thorntree find, checked Are Tamanu's online availability and reported the resort showed 100% booked between June 5 through August 4th, after which it was pretty much vacant.
Dan posted, "Got a report today that the local Islands Council is fixing up a jetty on Aitutaki. He thinks that SEG is footing the bill. The source said it was for the filming. This is the same jetty that the British version used for their boats. Their production camp was nearby, the source said."
Dan again, "A source in the shipping industry said the Survivor (not Castaway) containers and boats were being shipped to Aitutaki arriving April 20th."
To Dan on April 25, "The Southern Express is currently in Aitutaki discharging the cargo, the boats have already been discharged. She experienced very bad weather on her way to Rarotonga so she's about 5 days delayed."
To Wezzie and later posted on Thorntree, "Starting sometime next month, the entire SE corner of the lagoon will be off-limits for 3 months or so (7 or 8 motus). Tours will instead be shifted to the SW corner."
To Wezzie, "I have signed a confidentiality agreement with the production crew."
YanaPie got Tipani tours to hedge, "What you have heard are only rumous at this point"
The Cook Island News reported on March 15, " Scouts from the popular American reality television series Survivor are in the Cook Islands scouting for a possible location for their next series.
According to locals in Aitutaki, a Survivor 'scouting crew' has been on the island since Monday. If all goes well the Cooks could be the location of the next Survivor television series.
Dan Bollinger of Survivor Maps has already posted maps of Aitutaki on his site. Bollinger says the Survivor series could have a 'Mutiny on the Bounty' theme as Captain William Bligh was the first to discover the island just days before the mutiny in 1789."
Originally titled: Survivor Panama - Revisted, again and again...
Original post: You read that right. The next installment of Survivor may be filmed in Panama. We heard over a month ago from locals about SEG possibly returning. And a little birdy overheard some 'crew members' at the next table in an LA restaurant that S13 would be in Panama.
Posted here with Wezzie's permission:
Survivor: Cook Islands
The Voyage of the Spoilers
May 3, 2006
Back on December 25, 2005, Dan Bollinger and I received a Xmas tip, "Survivor is going to film in The Cook Islands and New Caledonia in 2006." But, around the same time, local and SEG sources revealed that Survivor was in returning to Panama, so Dan started the thread Panama Revisited..again and again
"The next installment of Survivor may be filmed in Panama. We heard over a month ago from locals about SEG possibly returning. And a little birdy overheard some crew members say that S13 would be in Panama."
The Panama thread exploded with posts. Page after page, fans bemoaned the thought of a fourth Survivor Panama. MyPoody heard the same rumor, but no one seemed to be pro-Panama... except Fokker. <wink>
Two weeks later, in a January 30 teleconference,
Question: "I've been hearing some fans say, "Panama, again?" Why are you guys going back to Panama?
Jeff Probst: Here's how our decisions for the location play out. We figure out either we have a destination like Palau where the theme presents itself, it's war and it's gonna be war relics and diving and old ships and planes and all of that stuff. Or we have a theme like we came up with this season, Exile Island, where the theme has nothing to do with the location. On the rare times when that's the case, we don't want to waste a great location because they are very hard to come by...
.. And without giving anything away, our next season, the destination is going to be the theme. We have a great destination. That's really how it works.
Panama was out.. Back to the boards.
I mentioned the tip we'd heard about Cook Islands, and people seemed to like the idea. AussieOriginal helped us find them, "The Cook Islands are about 2,000 kms (about 1,400 miles) away from New Zealand. In fact, the Cooks are not that far from Marquesas."
For seven pages we discussed "great destinations" including the Cook Islands, Greece, Egypt, New Zealand, Madagascar, Japan, Okinawa, the Philippines, India, China, and Australia, until one day in early March, Silvanocat posted that the Lonely Planet's Thorntree message board was talking about Survivor coming to Aitutaki, Cook Islands!! GAME ON!!
What makes the Cook Islands a "great destination"?
For one thing, the very first Survivor (BBC) was filmed there.
As far as Dan B's concerned, it's already on the map. He's predicting the camps will be on Rapota and Moturakau, "Mutiny Motel" on Akaiami. Filming on One Foot. Challenges on Tekopua.
SurvivorMaps, Aitutaki
Boating Restrictions
Outfrontgirl has been there and thinks it's a fabulous "destination"! Awhile ago, she set out to find an uspoiled, little-visited Pacific island group to visit, chose the Cooks, and fell in love with Aitutaki. She was thrilled to read Dan's news that Survivor might film there, and has been a treasure trove of information about Aitutaki's motus, culture, government, weather, reef... you name it.
The first westerner to visit Cook Islands was Captain Bligh, just days before the mutiny, although he never laid foot on the atoll.
The motu Rapota once held a leper colony.
Aitutaki was a refueling stop on the Coral Route of the Tasman Empire Airways Limited's (TEAL) service. The PBY seaplanes flew from Aukland-Samoa-Aitutaki-Tahiti and back. There is a Post Office at One Foot and Aitutaki will stamp passports because it used to be the gateway to the Cook Islands.
What proof do we have that Survivor is filming on Aitutaki?
For one thing, the Thorntree posts! They were concerned that Survivor would affect their trips, and they sure kept the coconut telegraph clicking.
An early Thorntree post, "Just came back from Aitutaki and yes it is true. The Crew has actually booked an entire resort (Are Tamanu) for 3 months (starting end of April/May)."
More recently, "Just got back from Aitutaki. Sydney who runs the Teal Retreat there told me that they are in negotiations with the Survivor crew at present and that filiming will take place from Akaiami all the way up to One Foot Island. He mentioned that Survivor Film Company is footing the bill for the poor people whose bookings have been cancelled. Over at Are Tamanu, one of the girls who works there pointed out some of the film crew to me that are already there."
..and from sources and research:
To Fokker: "The Aitutaki Pacific Resort assure me, no worries with diving anywhere near any of the activity going on with Survivor."
To Dan: "A lot of the accommodation on the Island has already been secured for the crew and cast."
To honeymooner paravicini00, "To my knowledge, the dates are yet to be finalised, but filming, should be completed by the end of July."
March 26, Outfrontgirl followed up a Thorntree find, checked Are Tamanu's online availability and reported the resort showed 100% booked between June 5 through August 4th, after which it was pretty much vacant.
Dan posted, "Got a report today that the local Islands Council is fixing up a jetty on Aitutaki. He thinks that SEG is footing the bill. The source said it was for the filming. This is the same jetty that the British version used for their boats. Their production camp was nearby, the source said."
Dan again, "A source in the shipping industry said the Survivor (not Castaway) containers and boats were being shipped to Aitutaki arriving April 20th."
To Dan on April 25, "The Southern Express is currently in Aitutaki discharging the cargo, the boats have already been discharged. She experienced very bad weather on her way to Rarotonga so she's about 5 days delayed."
To Wezzie and later posted on Thorntree, "Starting sometime next month, the entire SE corner of the lagoon will be off-limits for 3 months or so (7 or 8 motus). Tours will instead be shifted to the SW corner."
To Wezzie, "I have signed a confidentiality agreement with the production crew."
YanaPie got Tipani tours to hedge, "What you have heard are only rumous at this point"
The Cook Island News reported on March 15, " Scouts from the popular American reality television series Survivor are in the Cook Islands scouting for a possible location for their next series.
According to locals in Aitutaki, a Survivor 'scouting crew' has been on the island since Monday. If all goes well the Cooks could be the location of the next Survivor television series.
Dan Bollinger of Survivor Maps has already posted maps of Aitutaki on his site. Bollinger says the Survivor series could have a 'Mutiny on the Bounty' theme as Captain William Bligh was the first to discover the island just days before the mutiny in 1789."
