Swan Hill

A cacophony of cockatoos

By Thomas Feng

May 19^th, 2019

I'm sitting on the banks of the Murray River next to a group of locals eating pizza and drinking Pepsi. The river current rushes wildly, moving a local fluck of ducks downstream.

In the distance is the caravan park, where trailer homes and marquees are set-up for the travellers' best spot in town for dinner. Some middle-aged man brings out their drone which attract a small crowd.

I'm in Swan Hill, a town of 10,000 people 350km away from Melbourne visiting for work.

It's a new beginning for me after three years working in a big institution where I had begun to lose sight of what I wanted from work, and from life.

To get here, I spent five hours on a train with new colleagues. We left at the crack of dawn and watched the sun rise over the horizon of barren fields out the window.

It is the first time that I have worked so closely with diverse groups such as people with disability. Listening to their experiences and learning about how much society needs to work on has been startling, enlightening and grounding at the same time.

The locals leave and I decide to jump in and swim into the murky river current, which frightens the ducks who scurry away from an amateur swimmer.

Being in the water feels reinvigorating, but I soon realise that the water is deep and I can't see what lies beneath. A gust hurries the current and I find myself holding onto the wooden platform.

Perhaps I am not brave enough today.

I see a backwater spot and wade around to my heart's content as the golden light hurrily sneaks under the trees.

I hear a raucous of loud, harsh squawks overwhelming and wings flapping as I jump out of the water.

And I see them.

A cacophony of cockatoos returning home for sun down by the river bank, swooping down for a final night's drink after a long day of lying and gracefully reclaiming their night-time home.

I catch the last parts of the fiery sky walking slowly back along the local streets to my motel. The town is magnificently quiet, with seldom cars or people on the streets.