Adam,
Your girlfriend bought you a telescope??? She is a keeper mate... dont let her go!!!
My wife refers to my telescope as my mistress... complains that Sally (The telescopes name) gets more of my time than she does... this is of course not true at all... well... maybe a little on some weeks...
Yes, get the T-Adapter... I have been totally LOVING taking images... a huge challenge, soooooooo much to learn, but worth it. I am only a begginer myself... had my telescope for about three months now after a many year gap from my original scope.
Mt Evelyn... nice... you would get a good view from there. But still, if your trying to get to the fainter objects the light pollution will still hurt you. Planets, moon, no problem for photo's, they are bright enough that you basically bypass the pollution with fast shutter speeds. Anything Deep Sky... you end up with yukky glow everywhere. 2 solutions... a filter (or 2 or three) to block the bits you dont want... or get right out of town. I sometime drive past you on my way from Doncaster to Lake Mountain for a nights viewing... the stars are just AWESOME out there... seriously worth the trip.
Have fun... it is a great way to spend time... looking up and wondering....
Geoff.