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Hello, Shane.
As others have said, it depends on your budget and what you want to do with your telescope. A little bit of reading - even if you limit yourself to researching this site - will assist you in your final decision.
Equatorial mounts - that's the type that will allow you to nudge your 'scope in one direction and still stay on the object's path in the sky - will cost a few bob. Motorised units - which means no nudging is required - are even more expensive.
Altitude/Azimuth (Alt/Az) mounts are simply a way of allowing your telescope to be pushed or pulled in any and all directions. A Dobsonian mount is just one example of an alt/az. Unless you have some form of 'slow motion' control on an alt/az it is not recommended for photography (or 'imaging' as some call it).
As far as costs go: I recently purchased a 10" (252mm) Newtonian from Bintel in Sydney. The price included the 'scope (solid tube), three eye-pieces (26/15/9mm), a Dobsonian mount (in 'flat pack' form), an 8 x 50mm finder and five eye-piece filters (orange, green, blue, yellow and moon). I also bought a laser collimator. The total cost, including freight, was $804. The freight component was $75. From comments I have read on this site it would seem that it's not that much more expensive for interstate shipments.
Transporting a telescope is always somewhat fraught. Refracting telescopes will always travel better than will reflectors. Reflectors will, in a general sense, always need re-collimation (even though it might be just a tweak or two) while refractors will not. Nevertheless, if I were transporting mine, I would try to ensure that it was as protected as possible from the bumps and jolts which will inevitably occur. In your case I would suggest that such is essential.
Initially I would think that a decent piece of foam rubber in which to wrap the optical tube assembly (OTA) is the way to go. If you can get hold of a few bulky pieces of 'styrene you could then fashion a form of multi-cramped sections to add further protection.
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