Hi Nicole,
How's your head? Are u totally confused now with the options and opinions given....
It's all fun and it will help with your choice in the long run.
I'll throw my 2 cents worth and I tend to agree with Auastronomer. If your new to astronomy and the hobbie, start with visual with something basic like a dob, preferbably collapsible if the budget will stretch. Give yourself 6 months or more to get comfortable with the whole process of visual viewing. Eg, setup, night sky planning, eyepiece and accesories etc. if you think your hooked, then save up for an intermediate astrophotography setup and go from there.
I think if you can make it out to IISAC and meet some folks at the camp is an excellent idea, check out what is out there and ask heaps of questions.
The final point I will make is to ensure your expectations are set when it comes to viewing objects, especially galaxies, dso's etc. You won't see colour, you won't see bright illuminious objects etc. At best most will be just a grey fuzzy smudge
depending on the aperture u end up with. Planets and the moon will look pretty good though as will some globular clusters etc. But don't expect it to look like pics from mags etc. I just thought I'd throw this in as I tend to think there is some exaggeration of what is seen. I expect I may get a barrage of disagreements here....but it's just my opinion and those of people who have never looked thru' scopes before and commented afterwards.
Also, this isn' t meant to be anything negative. Your venturing into a great hobbie and each time you check out something new, it does make you marvel what's out there. My enjoyment is where you see clear dark skies and its like "wow" - particularly true in light polluted Sydney!
Good luck with your decision making process.
Norm
PS: go for a 10 inch dob.