My first dive consisted of kneeling in the shallow end of a pool. Submerging my head while breathing seemed very strange. There were bubbles everywhere, and it was very loud, so I freaked out and stood up. But then I calmed down and I was fine. The instructor took me through taking out my regulator and putting it back (breathe out first), and taking out mine and using his spare. For some reason I had trouble with clearing my mask, so I had to practice a little. Then I swan the length of the shallow end a couple of times, and even got the hang of kicking from my hips. I had fun. SO much fun I signed up for the five-day live-aboard PADI course. It will be two days of "school and pool," then three days living on a boat on the Reef. Two of those three days will be training dives, and the last will be fun dives, including a night dive. Now that I'm spending seven days here, and want seven in Sydney, I'll have to book it down the coast.