Hi Grant and welcome to IIS
Here is my two cents. Like you, I'm fairly new to astronomy.
Can I suggest joining a club / society (at least check it out).
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/clublistings.html#VIC
The info you'll pick up is mind blowing, there is more to astronomy that looking in telescopes, stuff like :- Spectrograph, Collimation, ect
The wealth of knowledge and experience of the members is great.
Hopefully I was able to help you.
Regards
Joe