Chris, cut-n-paste from unfinished PM I haven't sent you yet:
The essentials:
- colliimation tool: the Bintel one costs more than the short Andrews one but it is much better, especially for your "slow" f8 scope. But you can make up a basic collimating tool from a 35mm film canister which will do the job.
- planisphere
- some charts; the "Southern Sky Guide" is pretty good, but you can get free ones off the web too. Here is probably the best one:
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~zs3t-tk/atlas/atlas.htm (but maybe you got this already; never mind about Taki's mag 8.5 atlas yet, but wow this guy does great work)
- red (preferably LED) torch to save your night vision when observing under dark skies (on a headband is best, but bit dear, $30 kmart)
- low magnification binoculars for scouting, around 7x50, 8x40 size (use the freebies for now but they are too high mag)
- chair + table
More accessories:
- 2x barlow lens
- another Plossl eyepiece with focal length = 15mm
- these you can probably get very cheap 2nd hand (compared to new ~< $100) by posting a "wanted" ad on the Buy & Sell forum
And when you are hooked in a year or so from now, you can start buying eyepieces that each cost more than your telescope!
On good targets: Mars is fading quickly, and Saturn is just coming around. Mars is visible soon after sunset, the red "star" in the North (don't confuse with Betelgeuse in Orion). If you stay up past midnight, you can see Saturn in the East (or you can get up early and catch it before sunrise, Jupiter too). Then there is the easiest target of all, the Moon, of course.
You are fairly limited on deep sky objects where you are because of light pollution. But the Orion nebula (middle star in the sword) should look pretty good through your scope, as should eta Carina & friends.