Whilst staying at Cradle Mountain Lodge, I was delighted to get up close to the local wildlife.

Bennetts Wallabies enjoyed the pink mountain berries that surrounded our cabin.

Pademelons, small wallabies, were happy to pose for photos by our car.

Bush tailed possums were very cheeky and sneaky nocturnal creatures. As we sat in the hot tub after dark, we made the mistake of taking wine, cheese, crackers and apples outside, and leaving the door open. A possum climbed up the ten foot high corner of the tub deck, appearing over the tap. We shooed him away but a few moments later, realised he was inside our room. Aussie Mate chased him out but he stole an apple on his way. A couple more possums appeared and they sat on the handrail eating the apple, full of attitude.

There were skinks in the wood pile outside our door. These little lizards were too quick to get a photo though.

Within the grounds of the lodge, I saw my first wild wombats. One in the distance during a dawn stroll. One after dark, walking across the path before crawling underneath a building.

Later in the day whilst bush walking, Aussie Mate spotted this fellow curled up in a dry, hollow tree, his ears visible as he faced to the left.

Wombats are marsupials, along with the kangaroo, wallaby, koala, possum, Tasmanian Devil, quoll and quokka. However, the tank like wombat has a pouch that faces backwards, to prevent dirt getting inside. This allows the young to graze out the back as the mother grazes at the front. Another of Australia’s amazing unique animals.

I’m linking this post to Claudette’s Emotography challenge – delighted.

I’m also linking to Jude’s garden challenge March’s theme, Wildlife in the Garden.