To bring this full circle. Shortly after the last thread I bought an Orion Optics (UK) VX 10 Newt from Lars on the classies. These have hand figured mirrors and are bit better than the average. It was a scope I had thought about getting new from Teleskop Express but dismissed mainly for price and this one was a bargain, thanks Lars. Added a Feather Touch focuser to it and also around the same time, also from the classies an NEQ6 from Lewis... great mount. I know a Newt on an EQ mount is a bit tricky but I tend to look at a small area of the sky at a time, so it's possible to get the eyepiece in a decent viewing position.
The Newt is still sitting in my mums house in Canberra
and hope to get it in October....
Thanks to all who replied.