Dispatches from the Antipodes 3

Wherein our hero prepares himself for his departure from the magical land of Oz...

Perhaps the moment of purest delight during our stay in Wollongong came on the morning before our visit to the Nán Tiān Temple. A cockatoo perched on our balcony railing and my son injudiciously offered it a piece of a fruit and grain bar. At once, we were visited by all its friends and relations, near and remote; a psittacine parliament surrounded us with expectant looks in their eyes. As it turned out, they were all quite gentle and took food from our hands without pecking or lurching, and it was hard to see them close up without feeling that the appearance of affable smiles on their faces were true expressions of their personalities. Manifestly, that really is who they are.