Thanks for the warm welcome everyone. After much research (primarily on this forum) I purchased a Kindle (Wi Fi) and a lighted cover for it. With a little luck I'll have it late next week and will then purchase a couple of books and be on my way.
I realise that international customers are restricted somewhat with the choice of available titles from Amazon compared to US customers, but thats ok, with some experience under my belt I will then purchase ebooks from other sources, download them to my computer and use a program such as calibre to then send it to the Kindle.
With help from this great site and people here I'm sure that my purchase will be well worthwhile.
Look forward to spending time here once I'm up and running.
And thanks for the concern regarding the floods we're having here in Queensland. Fortunately I personally am not affected, but have many friends who are, and its a real mess in Brisbane and surrounding areas at the minute.
Chris