Some good advice below. However, I would recommend that if you are observing from Sydney: skip the galaxies for a bit. Wait for a dark sky trip. Try some globular clusters for now: Omega Centauri, NGC 104, NGC 6397 in Ara, M22, etc... and some open clusters like the Jewel Box in Crux and M11 in Scutum. Most of all - enjoy yourself!
P.s. All of the above are relatively easy to find and then remember the location for.