G'Day Ben.
Welcome aboard.
Sounds like you have a plan for where you're heading in the hobby, but its worth taking things 1 step at a time.
My recommended initial purchases are:
1. a planisphere. Mike has some in the IIS Shop. These are real handy to work out what you can see at any particular time.
2. A red light torch or headlamp so you can read star charts and the planispehere and see what you're doing without destroying your night vision.
3. A set of star charts. I started out with pages copied out of a coffee table book to start with. There are some excellent but expensive charts around, but if you search for Taki's Atlas its a free PDF set of charts
.
4. A set of quality 7x50 binoculars. You can do a lot of astronomy with binoculars, and you will use them for the rest of your life. Even when you have scopes, you will still use binoculars
. You can go to slightly higher magnification, but the higher the magnification the more difficult they are to hold steady.
I would suggest that with these basics, they will help to keep you amused while you get to grips with what scope to buy for your first scope
. There's plenty to learn.
Usually I would recommend a dobsonian as a first scope. They are simple to setup and use and give you excellent viewing for your dollar. It might still be the right thing for your to start with while you work out what sort of astrophotography you would like to do.
Al.