great barrier reef

while in port douglas we went out on calypso to the great barrier reef. unfortunately it was a bit cool and windy the day we went but it was still a great trip (and calypso was a great company to go with out of the MANY choices available). zac and i both decided to take the travel sickness pills offered before we left the dock (some friends did the same trip a couple years ago and one got sea sick and had a horrible time, the other said it was the best day ever). i'm glad we did because i was starting to feel a bit off by the time we got to the reef (about a 90 min trip in rough waters) but i was ok once we stopped. our boat included wetsuits in the price (some of the ones we looked at offered wetsuits as an extra fee) so we both took them (the water was 24C but with the wind and lack of sun it was kind of cold). we planned on buying a cd of the photos taken by the boats photographer but 2 snorkeling sessions (out of 3) into the trip, the only photos she had of us were on the boat so we decided to buy one of the crappy disposable cameras (they did have a couple underwater digital cameras available for hire but they went quick and at that time we thought we'd get the photographers photos). i was surprised that we actually got a few photos that looked ok with the disposable one (especially since i was being tossed by waves on the surface every time i tried to use it)
zac checking out the reef below: some little fishes:
me swimming over some coral:
not sure what i'm doing (underwater doggie paddle?):
i had a lot of trouble trying to get down in the water (and even more trouble trying to stay down to check out things)
more coral (i was actually trying to take a picture of a huge school of fish (like the one at the very top) but i think i missed (it was hard to look thru the lens with the mask on and i was being tossed by the waves as well... not great photo conditions)