Rare footage of a koala casually walking up the street on all-fours was captured by a Central West couple on Saturday evening.
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Owners of Molong's Wildflower Cafe, Danni and Michael Smith eyed the furry little ball of "bush traffic" on January 13 in Newbridge, a historic Central West village near Blayney.
Opting for the back-road home from the Rockley Rodeo event, the Smith's decision to avoid busy highway traffic ended with a rare and native spanner thrown into their commuting works instead.
"We saw this thing just moving towards us, right up the middle of the road, and I said 'look out Michael, there's a wombat down there'," Mrs Smith said.
"It was right at dusk around 8pm, so when we got closer, we just thought 'wait a second, that's a koala'.
"I still could not believe that we actually saw one, so we were kind of 'fan-girling' about it the whole rest of the way home."
In the footage comically captioned Bloody bush traffic! Just trying to get home, mate!, the koala is seen strolling up the (recently graded) road with Mrs Smith's voice in the background.
She says: "I just would like to get you off the road, thank you" followed by "that'd be great".
Admittedly, the cafe owner says she was a bit wary of being on foot near the marsupial - fearful the animal could turn on her if it felt threatened.
"We had to stop and get it off the road, we thought 'we cant have this [koala] hit' and he didn't look mangy or anything to indicate he needed help, he looked in good health," she said.
I still could not believe that we actually saw one.
- Molong's Danni Smith on koala sighting in Newbridge on January 13.
"But I also know they can become quite aggressive, so I thought 'if this thing starts charging at me, at least we'll get a great video either way'.
"We'd either have the footage we ended up with, or a reel of me running and screaming while trying to film a koala, which would've been hilarious."
For a marsupial that, according to the Australian Koala Foundation, sleeps anywhere from 18 to 22 hours a day, it's not a common thing to see one.
Descending most days, koalas commute from one tree to another in search of a more generous food supply, usually around dawn or dusk.
Minding its own business as it continued its travels, Mrs Smith says the marsupial eventually disappeared into the bush - back into "the middle of nowhere".
"You just never really see them on the ground much, it's a pretty rare thing for most people," she said.
"We feel so lucky we were there when we were and then we got to share that joy through the video with our family and friends."