Photo by Shannon Gillies.
The jolly gent has been making a series of public relation visits all over the planet before the big night.
He left his reindeer at home this time and instead was flown into Weston School by helicopter, piloted by Oamaru man Craig McMillan.
Santa dispensed high-fives and popsicles to the pupils on the school's back field.
The children were happy with their icy treats, but would have liked to have seen Santa's reindeer.
Bella Tachinni (6) said helicopters were OK but reindeer were better because they had magic, and Ethan Kennedy (7) agreed with Bella and called for reindeer to be used.
