Hi Mike
I have fond memories too of my first microscope.
A quick search showed up this one from York Optical . It has built in illumination and good magnification range and looks solid enough.
http://microscope.net.au/Home/tabid/...ESC%2cUnitCost
If you just want to look at bugs and biology then a dissecting microscope is a good choice, as you get nice bright images. I have a 20X stereoscopic model that Bintel sells for $199. I use it for looking at optical surfaces.