Members of Otago's Polish community have gathered in Port Chalmers to celebrate a major milestone.
The first organised group of Polish settlers arrived in Dunedin by boat on December 6 in 1872, with many descendants of those pioneers reuniting this week to celebrate their heritage.
It's the 150th anniversary of the arrival of those settlers, who came here on immigrant sailing ship Palmerston after travelling from Hamburg.
A commemorative plaque was unveiled at the Port Chalmers Town Hall by the Honorary Consul General of Poland during a ceremony on Tuesday afternoon.
Descendants also paid a visit to nearby Back Beach for a photo opportunity, and the chance to take in the view that first greeted their ancestors.
Bozena Misiewicz-Haug, from the Polish Heritage of Otago and Southland Charitable Trust, says it wasn't an easy process for those sea-weary settlers, who were eager to start their new lives in a new country.
"As much as they were looking forward to stepping on solid ground after 109 days at sea, that didn't happen for them", Misiewicz-Haug says.
There was suspected scarlet fever onboard the Palmerston voyage. But as Quarantine Island in Otago Harbour was already at capacity, the settlers were instead quarantined off the Aramoana spit.
"They arrived on the 6th of December and they were let out of quarantine on Christmas Day", says Ewa Rozecka-Pollard, Chairperson of the Polish Heritage Trust.
"And there were beaches, sunshine... When they left Poland it was coming into winter, so that must have been a culture shock!"
Families say they're proud they're still able to trace their roots, and credit the work of the Polish Heritage Trust of Otago and Southland Charitable Trust, which organised this week's anniversary events.
jamie.morris@alliedpress.co.nz
