December saw two events happen at the Tauranga Polish community: a heavenly and a worldly one. Due to the huge amount of stops on Earth, Santa Claus had asked for an extension date as he wasn’t able to make it on 6 December. It was agreed that he would pay a visit to Tauranga on the 19th and that it would coincide with an early Wigilia. On that Saturday Polish children and their parents gathered at St Thomas Moore for their end-of-year celebration. Parents brought dishes typical for Wigilia, and Mikolaj gave presents to the children.

On 29 December, Polish Ambassador Zbigniew Gniatkowski and his wife, Consul Agnieszka Kacperska, visited Tauranga during their holiday travelling across the North Island. The ambassador invited members of the Polish Community Trust and their spouses for a belated Christmas dinner to Café Versailles in Tauranga.

Belated Christmas dinner with Polish Ambassador Zbigniew Gniatkowski (far end of the table) and his wife, Consul Agnieszka Kacperska (foreground, first on left).