What do emus actually eat most?

We continued down the west coast of Australia and arrived in Exmouth after more than 1,000 km.

A small coastal town with 2,200 inhabitants, which is considered as a medium-sized city here. We settled here for a few days, because Exmouth is very close to the Ningaloo Reef:

A coral reef over 250 km long, which is only 100 m away from the coast in some places. So ideal for snorkeling in the reef on your own. Completely different from the more famous Great Barrier Reef, which runs 30 km away along the east coast of Australia, near Townsville. And for which you always have to take a boat.

RAC camping site Exmouth:

As soon as we had settled in somewhat at home and slurped the first Nescaffee on our folding camping chairs, an emu, an ostrich-like bird, strolled casually past us across the campsite. We were so excited by this sight that we quickly pulled out all 3 of our mobile phones and took photos and videos like crazy.

After that we went to the tourist info, where a cheerful employee convinced us how great it would be to swim with whale sharks, humpback whales, sea turtles or manta rays.

Although I still had some respect and my right shoulder was still sore from a fall, we signed up for the one-day boat tour for the next day.

A little after 7 am we were picked up at our campsite by a minibus: at the wheel was a pretty 20-year-old brunette, the rest of the crew consisted of a young suntanned blonde with pilot goggles, who was responsible for information and entertainment, and another young blonde who was supposed to document our trip in photos and videos. Respect! These three cool, self-confident young ladies as well as the weathered skipper and another young 'sailor' provided us with an unforgettable trip in and around the Ningaloo Reef.

And at the end of the day, Günter and Moritz actually went swimming with the largest living fish, the whale shark, which passed by them in less than a meter, in the sea. A goosebumps experience that will be remembered for a long time!

In addition, a group of huge humpback whales waved their fins at us. Dolphins surfed merrily on the bow wave of our boat and we went snorkeling at several spots in the turquoise reef. In between there were drinks, biscuits, a lunch buffet, a fruit platter and a final glass of sparkling wine, really a completely successful trip. Hats off: The Australians can organize trips!

But now back to our initial question:

What do emus like to eat?

Hungry but happy, we returned to the campground. And since Moritz didn't want to wait, he fried himself some delicious fried eggs with crispy bacon in the camp kitchen. He put his well-filled plate on the table in front of our camper and went to get the pan from the kitchen.

In that moment, an emu and its mate came purposefully and with big steps, attracted by the delicious smell, striding towards Moritz's plate. I couldn't look fast enough as the two of them stole two crispy slices of bacon from the plate.

I quickly picked up the plate and tried to take the rest to safety, but the two cheeky creatures actually chased after me and blocked my way. After some snapping, I gave up and dropped the plate. In no time, the eggs and bacon were gone and Moritz came running out of the kitchen in disbelief.

After this experience, Moritz actually wanted to wring the wild emus' necks, as they strolled past our camping table again the next morning!