McGrath, there is a link at the bottom of the "new topic" page that takes you back to the forum home which perhaps could be deleted.

The answer how to create a new topic is to click the button labeled "Create New Topic" which is just to the right of the "Preview" check box. Similarly, when replying to a topic, the button to use is the one labeled "Reply To Topic" which again is just to the right of the "Perview" check box.

Jon