A pair of bushwalkers traipsing through the Blue Mountains in March were lucky enough to witness the playful behaviour of a platypus, a usually shy Australian native.

The happy creature approached the bank of a stream before rolling over and indulgently scratching its stomach, to the delight of photographer David Whiteman and his friend.

“He played for about 20 minutes at our feet and burrowed into the sand looking for food and having a scratch,” Whiteman told Storyful. “He then followed the stream down to the next falls where we lost sight of him.”

By Monday, March 20, the video had been viewed on Facebook more than 500,000 times. Credit: David Whiteman via Storyful