A surprising passenger made its way across the Queensland and New South Wales border when a coastal carpet python found a snug spot in a car’s crevice.

The snake unwittingly embarked on a nine-hour journey from Toowoomba to the Central Coast, accompanying a family on their Christmas holiday trip.

The stowaway was discovered when the car owner, Anthony, sought assistance at the Australian Reptile Park to safely remove the unexpected hitchhiker.

Upon inspection, the snake was identified as a 1.2-meter coastal carpet python.

Dylan Wallis, the head of reptiles at the Australian Reptile Park, expressed his astonishment, noting it was unprecedented for a snake to travel such a long distance in this manner.

“We’ve seen many snakes in cars, but never one that has travelled that far from another state,” he said.

The snake had been hiding on top of the car’s fuel tank, which kept it safe from the elements.

“Right next to him are the turning wheels and, of course, that creates a lot of ventilation to keep him nice and cool,” Wallis said.

It was safely extracted as experts went underneath the car to push the python out. 

It will be shipped back to Queensland.

“He’s gonna do the entire journey, but this time he’s not gonna be sitting on top of the fuel tank,” Wallis said.