Wondrous Vulva puppets in Mt Isa

Last night the puppets had their first stage outing at the Piano bar in the Irish Club in Mt Isa. It was a hoot and wonderful to finally show the crew what I do. The feedback was great and at I am delighted that we have established our place in the doco.

We did a short piece and a song and were planning to do more later - but within 15 minutes the management had shut us down. They’d belatedly cottoned on to the function of the Mango Juicer and felt it was inappropriate to sell pleasure toys in a family club. Later after some more conversations they apologised and invited us back for another time.

Who is mutilating now?

Mango Tour - Day the 4th

Not long out of Winton, birthplace of Waltzing Matilda, and we are traveling through huge tracts of flat dry grass. In some places there is not a tree or a shrub in sight in any direction. Occasionally we pass small herds of cattle, clustered around a water hole or gathering in the meagre shade of one of the few remaining trees. It is hard for me to imagine why any one would think that cattle don’t need any shade.

Arriving at Mt Isa is a bit of a shock. After 2000 km of amazing countryside a massive smoke stack rises up over the hillside. The town is completely dominated by the mine, a black industrial scar on this incredible landscape. The words on a roadside monument marking the transition from one language country to another land summed it up so well.

RIVER AND ROCKFACE AND TREE, TAKEN AND CUT OFF FROM ME, IN HEARTACHE AND FEAR

Here in the dusty red earth of the great mother Australia I saw a poignant parallel between the scarred, gouged earth I was witnessing and the mutilation of the feminine that is the topic of our journey.

Vulva Puppets on Mango Tour with Vagina Doctor

The Mango Tour consisting of two Winnebagos, one Jucy Campa, a purple ute full of cameras and a slightly dodgy looking Mazda van, took off from Burleigh Heads at around 10.00 am - rather later than most people seemed to hope. Most of us had not actually seen an itinerary – although it appeared that one existed. The general plan seems to be to head for Mount Isa where we were booked to throw a Mango juicer party in the pub, then across to Townsville for another party and back down the coast to Burleigh with more parties down the coast, Part of what held us up leaving was the need to shoot packing the van from three or four angles – and in reverse! I could already detect a slight variation in agendas in the frustration that this incurred in some quarters.

Our Winnie was the advance guard. Driven by Nick – bagpipe player extraordinaire and owner of the Mango Juicer rights in Australia, with co-pilot Joleen mango juicer enthusiast and sunglass saleswoman, entertainment coordinator Aaron (Azza), babe magnet & Brad Pitt look alike with possibly even better muscles, yours truly and a troupe of Wondrous Vulva puppets! Along the way we picked up Kat and Kat’s cameras.

We laughed, chatted, read, nibbled treats, listen to great tunes, played cards and laughed more. It was a great ride to Roma.

Laura-Doe and puppets to join Mango Tour to raise awareness about FGM

Stop press - The wondrous vulva puppets and I have just been invited to go on the Mango Tour with Samantha Backman (the Vagina Doctor) to film a doco and TV show in order to raise awareness about FGM

What's the Mango tour I hear you ask! It seems the plan is to drive a convoy of entertainers with a passion for women's rights and a camera crew up the centre of Queensland to Mt Isa, east to Townsville and back down the to the Gold Coast. The purpose? ... to shoot a doco to raise awareness about Female Genital Mutilation.
If you don't know about Female Genital Mutilation read more here.
And watch this space!