The story of how Harri, a Nundah family’s beloved pet cockatoo, stowed away aboard a luxury cruise ship to New Zealand has continued to amuse many people around the world. The story took an emotional turn when the galah was finally reunited with her owners early this February.
Nundah couple Michelle and Brett Cozzi thought they had lost Harri forever when they found her gone on the 20th of January. They tried all available means to find her, even resorting to social media, where they shared her photos across all platforms in hopes of reaching someone who may have seen her.
Their four-year-old daughter Georgia, who regularly sings to Harri, had been missing the cockatoo terribly. Two weeks passed, and the family braced themselves to expect the worst. It looked like Harri was gone for good.
As it turned out, Harri was having the time of her life aboard the Sea Princess, a luxury cruise ship. Harri had flown out of her Nundah coop, hitched a ride on the ship, and was enjoying the beautiful views of New Zealand!
She even had her own private cabin next to the ship’s captain, Giuseppe Romano. The captain had also been trying to teach him to speak in Italian, something that Mr Romano revealed in media interviews. He also shared that he has been at sea for 47 years, but it was the first time that a bird ended up on his ship and stayed. Birds would usually land on the ship and almost immediately fly away.
Mr Romano and his crew used Harri’s microchip to look for her owners.
Early in February, Harri was finally reunited with the Cozzi family. In a twist, the family was about to board another cruise ship to take their own trip to New Zealand when they received the news that Harri had beat them to it with her own trip to NZ, and has been found.
The captain and his crew were all sad to see Harri go but were happier to be instrumental to a sentimental reunion with Harri’s relieved humans.
The Cozzis were very delighted to have Harri back, Brett told various media. He said that the galah was an indispensable member of their family. Having her back is the best news they received in the two weeks that they have been searching for her.