A Little Piece of Australia
Garth Nix is not the only Australian on his way to the San Francisco Bay Area. This particular one is rather larger, comes from Melbourne, and will be taking up residence in the public transit system of San Francisco.
One of the many popular tourist attractions of the City by the Bay is the collection of vintage streetcars that runs a service from the Castro district, along Market Street, and around the Embarcadero to Fisherman’s Wharf. That fleet will soon be augmented by the arrival of a 63-year-old Melbourne tram. See this story in the San Francisco Chronicle for more details.
Although the new tram will not take service until next year, homesick Australians should note that San Francisco already owns one Melbourne tram. The other vintage streetcars are very nice too. Further details are available here.