in my noobness I take it SPD are the mountainbike style clips/shoes?

I thinkk your right I talked/looked at a couple of LBS's this morning and they have no decent/reasonable toeclip pedals, just cheap stuff.

I had a look at cleats/shoes in Hadleys (where Expat used to work) helpful, and cleats seem to be the way to go. Although I would take a pair of thongs with me and put the shoes in me bag