Andrew, the postage costs to a US address don't look too bad to me considering the price. Dave did mention that he had a friend in the US who could buy the binoculars for him.
As others have stated there are plenty of other good choices too, e.g., the Nikon Action Extreme 10x50 (similar US price to the Pentax PCF II). The Garrett Signature Series (same thing sold here by Andrews as the Ultra series for about the same price) get many
very good reviews but a pair of 7x50 or 10x50 Ultras is $AUS279.
Another possible approach is to go really cheap and second hand for a first pair of binoculars and then spend a bit more cash on a better second pair only after you have a better idea of how often you will use them and what you like/hate about the first pair. This is effectively what I (unwittingly) did
