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It may feel intimidating to go to star parties, club nights etc but the quickest and easiest way to learn is from more experienced people. The overwhelming majority of amateur astronomers are welcoming and helpful people. In fact it makes their day (or night) to be able to help someone starting out.
Perhaps try one of Astro Pete's weekly observing nights in Brissie? Yeah, the guy has a shop and an open agenda to promote it, but afaik these nights are great for beginners. Learning on your own even with all the resources of the Internet, including forums like these, will be a lot slower and will require a lot more dedication from you to stick with it before you see results.
But I must admit that IIS and the advice I got here 10+ years ago was fantastic and got me exploring on my own for a while. Then the first thing that amplified that 10x was a Snake Valley camp (the first one iirc). Then I also met up with fellow IIS members informally. We went to sites around Melbourne. Also went to ASV Messier and pre-Christmas parties. And to VicSouth 2006. I realise these events are a long way away from you but QLD must have ones similar. Going to a proper star party is like taking an intensive course: learning in one weekend what would take 6-12 months and a lot more persistence at home. And no one is going to think lesser of you for being less experienced than them. In fact people will love you for it because there's nothing we like better than sharing knowledge.
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