Hi Shaun,
Do you have any idea of what the answers to the questions that Tony asked above are? You can enjoy the hobby at a great many different levels and budgets - from pretty much zero through to as many tens of thousands of dollars as you care to throw at it.
If you already have a computer all you need to get started is the free Stellarium software and your eyes. If you already have a tripod and a camera that can do time exposures, you can start taking wide field shots immediately. And so on. What do you currently have?
Before you buy any books or telescopes have a read of two of the stickies above - Article: Part 1 and Article: Part 2. Well worth a read. If you do buy books check that they have good coverage of the Southern Hemisphere - many are heavily weighted to Northern Hemisphere observing.
Don’t be tempted to get too fancy too quickly (actually you will be tempted, but do try and get the basics working first!). I started with a basic 80x400 Skywatcher refractor telescope that cost about $300 and it’s still the one I use the most. (Best to avoid the really cheap kid’s stuff though). The view through it is the “right way up”, and the right way round (most astro scopes reverse either up and down or left and right, or both - which can be very confusing for a beginner). It has a simple Alt/Az mount that goes left and right or up and down. It’s light and can be carried outside and used immediately without special setting up. And I can even attach a camera to it. It’s been a wonderful tool to get to know the general overview of the night sky. But you'll get a wide range of different suggestions. There are many perfectly good approaches.
Even with such a modest scope as my 80x400 you can’t see the whole of the Southern Cross at one time, just some of the stars but it’s much easier to find your way around with a relatively low powered telescope. And it won’t be wasted when you buy the next one. Mine is now mounted on top of a bigger one and serves as a finder scope.
Good luck.
Chris
