Hi mate,
Just a few awesome herps that are great for a beginner, these are ones you can handle pretty good though:
Snakes: Stimson, Spotted, Childrens, Bredli, Coastal and Darwin.
Lizards: Blue tongue, Shingle, Central beardie and Pygmy Beardie.
As jasper said, Gecko's are not very tame. They are pretty cool to watch though and have some incredible colours/morphs coming out.