Vavau

Tribe Profile
Version	Australia
Season	Australian Survivor (2016)
Namesake	Samoan village
Tribe Type	Starting Tribe
Day Formed	Day 1
Rival Tribe(s)	Aganoa Saanapu
Tribe Status	Merged with Saanapu on Day 32
Challenge Wins	7
Lowest-Placing Member	Barry Lea (20/24)
Highest-Placing Member	Jennah-Louise Salkeld (8/24)

Vavau​ is a tribe from Australian Survivor (2016). Their tribe color is yellow.

A tribe of eclectic personalities, Vavau managed to gel early on to allow them to be virtually unbeatable in challenges. However a lopsided tribe switch decimated the tribe because their rivals won every single post swap challenge, merging with them with only a paltry roster of three.

Members

Original Day 12 Day 19 Day 29 Andrew Torrens 29, Brisbane, QLD Marketing executive Barry Lea 44, Cairns, QLD Former professional rugby league player Craig I'Anson 32, Brisbane, QLD Recruitment officer Jennah-Louise Salkeld 27, Gold Coast, QLD Law graduate Kate Campbell 28, Perth, WA Financial analyst Nick Iadanza 28, Adelaide, SA High school teacher Sue Clarke 59, Perth, WA Retired customs officer Tegan Haining 33, Sydney, NSW Personal trainer  Andrew Torrens       Barry Lea       Conner Bethune       Craig I'Anson       Jennah-Louise Salkeld       Kate Campbell       Sam Webb       Sue Clarke       Andrew Torrens            Conner Bethune            Craig I'Anson            Kat Dumont            Kate Campbell            Kristie Bennett            Phoebe Timmins            Rohan MacLaren            Sue Clarke            Conner Bethune                 Kate Campbell                 Kristie Bennett                 Phoebe Timmins

Tribe History

Vavau started off as the strongest of the three starting tribes, winning five straight challenges. Their luck would run out at the Day 12 Immunity Challenge, resulting in them attending a Double Tribal Council with Saanapu. Barry announced to the tribe that he had no intention of strategising and would vote randomly, which bemused some of his tribemates.

Despite this, the majority settled on blindsiding Nick that night due to his untrustworthy nature, which came about after an egregious lie about an idol clue. However, it was later revealed that there was a non-elimination twist and that Nick would be swapped onto Saanapu instead. He chose his close ally Tegan to join him. In his place, Conner and Sam joined from Saanapu.

The two former Saanapus were welcomed into their new tribe. Vavau lost the next Immunity Challenge, and unanimously voted out Barry for his unwillingness to play the game.

On Day 19, a Tribe Switch occurred after Saanapu won a challenge, giving them the privilege to pick four members from the other two tribes, with those remaining becoming the new Vavau. Sam was picked to join Saanapu, while Rohan, Kat, Phoebe and Kristie joined from Aganoa.

The new tribe was quickly divided between the five old Vavau members and the four former Aganoa members. The majority alliance settled on Phoebe, but she played an idol which sent Rohan home instead, taking out Vavau's best challenge performer. Vavau subsequently struggled in challenges against the much stronger Saanapu, which saw the tribe continuously return to Tribal Council and become more and more demoralised.

Kat was next to go from the Aganoa minority due to challenge weakness, however, Kate and Craig both decided to go against their alliance to blindside Andrew for dragging the tribe down. This revolt didn't last long, as the old Vavau members quickly reformed to make a second attempt at taking out Phoebe. They didn't count on her playing a second idol, however, and Craig was sent home, taking out another one of the tribe's best challenge performers.

Phoebe attempted to further save herself by throwing her best friend Kristie under the bus for being more strategically aware than she appeared. Her blindside plans seemed to be perfectly in place until it was revealed that it was another non-elimination twist, this time Brooke from Saanapu could kidnap one of the Vavau members. She chose Sue, reducing Vavau to just four members.

However, Kristie caught onto what Phoebe was doing and managed to convince Conner and Kate to vote out Phoebe instead at the next Tribal Council. Vavau entered the merge in a vast 3-10 minority, living the rest of their days at their old camp.

Challenge History

Episode	Challenge	Challenge Type	Sit-Out	Result	Eliminated (Vote)	Finish
1	Race for Fire	Reward	None	Lost	Tribe Immune
	Throw One Over	Reward/Immunity	None	2nd
2	Sacrificial Lamb	Reward/Immunity	Sue	1st	Tribe Immune
3	Supply Ships	Reward	Tegan	1st	Tribe Immune
	Caught in the Web	Immunity	Andrew	1st
4	Crab Pots	Immunity	Sue, Tegan	2nd	Tribe Immune
5	Build It Up, Break It Down	Reward	Jennah-Louise, Nick	Lost	Nick (5-3)1	Sent to Saanapu Day 12
	Nutslinger	Immunity	Andrew, Sue	Lost
Tribes Switched, Day 12
6	Breakout	Immunity	Jennah-Louise, Kate	Lost	Barry (7-1)	4th Voted Out Day 14
7	Barrel Bridge	Reward	None	2nd	Tribe Immune
	Pull Your Weight	Immunity	None	Won
8	United We Stand	Reward	None	Lost
Tribes Switched, Day 19
9	Up Close and Muddy	Reward	None	Lost	Rohan (2-1-1-0)2	6th Voted Out Day 21
	Basketbrawl	Immunity	None	Lost
10	Log Handler	Immunity	None	Lost	Kat (6-2)	7th Voted Out Day 23
11	Hot Pursuit	Reward	None	Lost	Andrew (4-3)	8th Voted Out Day 25
	Sack Attack	Immunity	None	Lost
12	Coconut	Immunity	None	Lost	Craig (2-0)2	9th Voted Out Day 27
13	Shut Your Trap	Reward	None	Lost	Sue (no vote)3	Kidnapped by Saanapu Day 29
	Boats Tug of War	Immunity	None	Lost
Kidnapping, Day 29
14	Spinning Stars	Reward/Immunity	None	Lost	Phoebe (3-1)	10th Voted Out Day 31
Tribes Merged, Day 32
Notes: ^1 In a surprise twist, Vavau and Saanapu were subjected to a mock vote, where the players voted out were switched to the other tribe. Those voted out were given the right to take a tribemate to join them on their new tribe. Nick chose Tegan to join him on Saanapu . ^2 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, negating all votes against its user. ^3 After winning the Immunity Challenge, Saanapu was allowed to send one member to spectate Vavau's Tribal Council. Brooke ended up being selected and in another shocking twist, the vote was cancelled and instead, Brooke was allowed to permanently kidnap one member of Vavau. Brooke chose to kidnap Sue.

Voting History

		Original Tribes					Switched Tribes		Absorbed Tribes				Post-Kidnap
Episode		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	9	10	11	12	14	15
Voted Out		Tribe Immune	Tribe Immune	Tribe Immune	Tribe Immune	Mock Vote	Barry	Tribe Immune	Rohan	Kat	Andrew	Craig	Phoebe	Tribes Merged
Vote		—	—	—	—	5-31	7-1	—	2-1-1-02	6-2	4-3	2-02	3-1
►►►►	Kristie	On Aganoa					On Aganoa		Rohan	Andrew	Andrew	Craig	Phoebe
►►►►	Sam	On Saanapu					Barry	—	On Saanapu				On Saanapu
►►►►	Jennah-Louise	—	—	—	—	Nick	Barry	—	On Saanapu				On Saanapu
►►►►	Sue	—	—	—	—	Nick	Barry	—	Phoebe	Kat	Kristie	Phoebe	On Saanapu
►►►►	Nick	—	—	—	—	Barry	On Saanapu		On Saanapu				On Saanapu
►►►►	Kate	—	—	—	—	Barry	Barry	—	Phoebe	Kat	Andrew	Phoebe	Phoebe
►►►►	Conner	On Saanapu					Barry	—	Phoebe	Kat	Kristie	Phoebe	Phoebe
►►►	Phoebe	On Aganoa					On Aganoa		Sue	Kat	Andrew	Craig	Kristie
►►	Craig	—	—	—	—	Nick	Barry	—	Phoebe	Kat	Andrew	Phoebe
►►	Andrew	—	—	—	—	Nick	Barry	—	Phoebe	Kat	Kristie
►►	Kat	On Aganoa					On Aganoa		Rohan	Andrew
►►	Rohan	On Aganoa					On Aganoa		Kat
►	Tegan	—	—	—	—	Barry	On Saanapu
►	Barry	—	—	—	—	Nick	Sue
Notes: ^1 In a surprise twist, Vavau and Saanapu were subjected to a mock vote, where the players voted out were switched to the other tribe. ^2 A Hidden Immunity Idol was used; therefore, all votes against the user were negated.

Gallery

Vavau at the Double Tribal Council/Tribe Switch with Saanapu.

Vavau at their second Tribal Council.

Barry voted out.

Vavau at their third Tribal Council

Rohan blindsided.

Vavau at their fourth Tribal Council.

Kat voted out.

Vavau at their fifth Tribal Council.

Andrew blindsided.

Vavau at their sixth Tribal Council.

Craig blindsided.

Brooke observing Vavau's seventh Tribal Council.

Sue kidnapped by Brooke.

Vavau at their eighth Tribal Council.

Phoebe blindsided.

Trivia

• Kate Campbell is the only original Vavau member to remain on the tribe during its whole existence.
• Vavau is the first of the three original Australian Survivor (2016) tribes to be totally extinct, despite being the last tribe to lose a member.
• Post-kidnap Vavau had no members on the jury. Kristie Bennett ended up being a finalist, and the other three players were all booted before the jury phase.