Melbourne.

"We're thinking about going to Melbourne for Easter Break. Wanna go with us?" Tess and Rachel asked me several weeks ago.

"Sounds like fun. Why not?" I replied. Did I know anything about Melbourne other than it's Australia's second largest city and that it was supposed to be a bit more artsy than Sydney? Not really. Did I know that the mountains around Melbourne are absolutely gorgeous and in many ways similar to the mountains in Tennessee? Nope. Did I have any specific things I wanted to do in Melbourne? Nope. Basically, I was asked if I wanted to go on a trip and I said sure without giving it much thought.

Thus, Thursday 21 of April, I found myself getting onto a night train that would, with roughly 10 hours of travel time, take me across much of the Australian east coast to a destination of which I knew very little. Traveling with me were the aforementioned Tess and Rachel, as well as Alessandra and Nick. The train ride was not terrible, though none of us really got good sleep. The seats were not the most comfortable in the world and having many stops along the route resulted in frequent awakenings. Rachel and I sat together, neither of us sleeping very successfully with the occasional brief conversation about it. "This stop looks like a barn," she said to me sometime around 3 or 4 in the morning.

"Huh," I replied. "I can't see it. My contacts aren't in. It's just a blur."

"Well, it's definitely a barn."

Not even cuddling could help us slip into the world of dreams. We were in a perpetual state of tired near-sleep. But really, the train travel was not bad. Just tiring.

Nick lived in Melbourne for two years earlier in his life--once when he was six and once when he was fifteen. Thus, he had connections that resulted in us having a destination of the Lilydale train station--Lilydale being one of the suburbs of the city. However, that Friday, Good Friday, we spent meandering about the city itself.

As it turned out, the free tram that goes around central Melbourne only closes two days a year: Christmas and Good Friday. Thus, we walked. A lot. We found our way to a park, meeting a man in a bunny suit on the way. We went to a war memorial. We walked down through the city to another park with a lake. We saw black swans. We found our way to a stretch of restaurants, where we ate wonderful pizza. We meandered across a dock that ended up placing us along rocks where penguins live and thus we got to see some penguins. We played cards. And then we found our way to a tram which we paid to take us back to the train station. We walked something like 10 or 11 kilos throughout that day, which is quite a bit to do with backpacks full of a weekends' worth of clothes just after a long train ride during which little sleep occurred. Fortunately, the weather was good for us--occasional spurts of light rain cooled us down but didn't last long enough to be annoying.

Finally, we got onto a train to head to Lilydale where Stan and his son Daniel, friends of Nick's family, met us. We loaded into their vehicles and headed to their lovely home in Mt. Evelyn, a beautiful little town of nice people. We were served some wonderful food, chatted briefly, and the girls were driven to the Tromps, another family of friends who opened their home to us travelers. After a good night of sleep, we set off with Stan and Daniel to travel through the mountains.

We stopped by rivers. We saw an eccentric house. We entered a rain forest. We hiked. We went on mountain tops with incredible overlooks. We had a barbie in the middle of the woods. We were out all day, seeing beautiful sights and having excellent conversations. We went to a farm owned by Stan's nephew. We were in awe of the land. And then we went back to Stan's, where we ate good food again.

The next day we visited their church for Easter Sunday. This was the church Nick's father had preached out when his family lived in Melbourne. It was a nice place with welcoming people. I then went with the girls to the Tromp household for lunch, while Nick caught up with friends he'd not seen in years. We went for a walk while Rachel Tromp, a girl just a little younger than us, took her horse for a ride. The path was similar to the Virginia Creeper Trail--indeed, it was even a path converted from an old railway. After about an hour of walking, we got coffee at a wonderful shop converted from an old Harry Potter style train.

After returning the the Tromps, playing cards, and good dinner at Stan's, we set forth again, going to an incredible overlook that looked across the city that night. The lights were incredible. We then returned to Stan's, where we watched the classic Australian movie The Castle. The next morning, we got up early and returned to the city, where we caught a train back home to Sydney.

The weekend was wonderful. It was beautiful and I did not want to leave Melbourne. We saw so much so quickly and were so welcomed by such wonderful people. I cannot imagine spending that break better. And I didn't plan a single part of it. I was just invited, said sure, and ended up having a wonderful time. Then, almost as soon as the Melbourne trip came to a close, we got on a bus to head westward into the Outback. But that's another story.

"It's the people you're with that matters..."

Dominique (Dominic?)--Dom. He's Ross's neighbor who does a lot of work around the yard. He's actually a construction worker. This man has a big beer belly. He hardly wears a shirt and when he does it's usually unbuttoned. He just wanders onto Ross's property and talks with us frequently. A beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other, it's rare to see him without both. He always seems drunk and it may very well be that he always is just a little bit so. Well, tonight, Dom decided to go out of his comfort zone, as did I. It was Jason's birthday today. He also passed his English exam which will allow him to enrol in uni here in Australia. Thus, tonight, Ross tossed some lamb and some sausages on the barbie and we feasted Aussie style. A large group of about 15 were here tonight and it was just hanging out, eating, and having a good time. Then, as part of the celebration, we all headed into Sydney to a pub in a hotel--the Shark Bar.

We went to the pub and all the non-Americans were drinking, as is normal (I won't pretend like they weren't getting tipsy, as they were). There was a good amount of dancing in the place, lots of music and lights. It was packed. And yes, even I got up and danced a bit. But the highlight of the evening was sitting and chatting with Dom.

Out of the blue, this seemingly always drunk man starts talking to me about the importance of caring about the people you're close to. He points out to me that most of the people in the bar are Asians. He clarifies he's not trying to be racist, it's just interesting. And that turns into a brief, but interesting discussion in which Dom says, "I don't care about if you're white or black or yellow or anything. It's your personality that matters. It's you as a person that matters." And he then says, "You know, Ross's wife died 5 years ago? Well, Ross has been my mate for 30 years. And his friends, we know we've gotta stick close. Ross is my friend. And it's just important for me to be here. I don't much care for the city, myself. I almost didn't come tonight, but it's an occasion that he cares about, so I thought, 'What the hell' and here I am."

That's friendship. Pure and simple. Dom doesn't look like much when you first look at him. But he is an incredible man. On the bus home--the last bus tonight--he gave some girl his number. Dom's a sneaky man. And he's as friendly as they come. And for a bit on the bus, he had all the attention of our group as we cheered for his success in talking to this lady. And then we got home. And there he was walking with me asking if I had a good time. I told him I did. I asked if he did. He said, "Yeah, I did. You know, those pubs aren't really my thing. I'd never been to that one and probably won't go back, but I had a good time. It's the people you're with that matters. Go to a place like that by yourself and you got nothing. Go with the right group and you'll have a great time."

And Dom's right. I have no idea if he's even a christian. But that man loves his neighbor like none other. And he's such an example of Australian hospitality--Ross is too, for that matter. The people here are incredible. I feel safe. Secure. Loved. And I only just got here. But I feel like these people are family. And it's going to suck to leave in 4 months. But I can already tell, this experience is going to change me. I'm already starting to think about the world differently. I don't think I'm going to be the same person when I return home. Life here is beautiful. I'm happy. And I can't wait for the change to really start happening, because loving like Dom does would be beautiful. And I think that's one of the main reasons I've ended up here. To learn to love. And I hope I can bring that home with me.