Finally, it was time. The day we first went into the water. After spending an intense few days studying the different kinds of fish for Scott Ling’s fish quiz and being relieved when we found out it was a much more casual (and non graded) affair, we finally had the chance to get in the water and perform a few practice runs for our target fish. Well, at least half of us did as we went overtime during our practice runs as Scott wanted us to really understand what we were doing to prepare for the actual study tomorrow. After a hearty lunch (in which I probably ate one too many burritos), we began what we would later find out to be a 6 hour long hike to one of the tallest points on Maria island. I don’t think anyone was prepared for the hike as we were breathing hard not even thirty minutes into the walk, but as we hiked along the coast we were treated breathtaking views of the shore and the sheer cliffs we were about to scale. That being said, it got to the point that every time I thought the summit was beyond the next crest in the hill hill, I’d look up and see another huge hill in front of me. In the end though, it was all worth it, as the view from atop Maria Island was absolutely stunning. As each of us made it up to the top in our own time, we were able to look down at the sheer drop towards the coast and appreciate how far we had come with the skinks that made this rock their home. Before we went back down, Greta had to give us all a mini heart attack by almost falling off the mountain, but other than that, the descent down was relatively painless. Finally, we made it back to camp and had a delicious dinner with some of us collapsing into bed and others looking for Tasmanian Devils well into the night.