An adorable koala with an inquisitive streak has been spotted scaling a lighthouse before sneaking inside for a cheeky nap.
Mark Sheriff, a former lighthouse keeper, snapped the koala on the side of Smoky Cape Lighthouse, on the NSW Mid North Coast, after returning from a late night swim.
He said he was used to seeing people attempting to sneak into the lighthouse but never a koala.
The koala was spotted scaling the lighthouse before sneaking inside for a nap
Former lighthouse keeper, Mark Sheriff was returning from a late night swim when he spotted the koala on the side of Smoky Cape Lighthouse
'I looked up and he's gone all the way up the top,' Mr Sheriff told ABC.
Mr Sheriff quickly rushed upstairs to the lantern room to find the marsupial trying to climb the walls.
'I just grabbed him and we were both sort of freaked out, we just needed to calm down, find a quiet spot.'
The koala, who Mr Sheriff named Pat after his mother, eventually calmed down after his late-night adventure.
Mr Sheriff brought the koala safely back to the ground before releasing him in nearby bushland.
'As soon as I got near the big trees, he just grunted and I could feel his ball of energy and I just let him go. That was it,' he said.
Mr Sheriff recalled Pat's 'really lovely smell' and said it was 'cool' that koalas have their own smell just like horses.
Pat the koala was found scaling Smoky Cape Lighthouse, on the NSW Mid North Coast
