Hi Sarah,
In your situation my first choice would be
a) a pair of 7x50's binoculars, these are likely to stay with him for life. Always useful, and there's nothing better for really impressive wide-field views of the night sky.
b) a subscription to a year of the US version of 'Sky & Telescope' (not the Australian one).
Then find a local astro group near you and join them for an observing night to see how interested he (or you) are. This could make a nice mystery trip, if you want to spring a surprise on him !
The reason I suggest this are:
a) the scope you picked is a frankly a bit of a toy and won't last long - if he is seriously interested in this he'll make or buy a much bigger telescope.
b) its a good idea to try someone else's telescope (a good one) before deciding to plunge a lot of money into a hobby like this.
c) choose a telescope that matches your interests (photography, deep sky, or the moon and planets) as different kinds of telescope have different uses.
If you're really set on buying a scope, buy the biggest aperture you can afford - I'd suggest forget equatorial mounts, and buy a 200mm aperture Dobsonian like this
http://www.bintel.com.au/Telescopes/...oductview.aspx
You should find one secondhand for your budget.
Next year you can give him a really nice eyepiece
