Welcoming our friends from New Zealand’s Polish community has become a regular autumn event at CUE Haven and today the Auckland Polish Association spent a day at CUE Haven socialising and exploring.  The day was organized by Nina Tomaszyk, President of the Auckland Polish Association. 

The objective was to give new families in the community an opportunity to meet and socialize and also to commemorate the historic battle of Monte Cassino which ended on this day in 1944.   Polish soldiers suffered huge losses in the battle but played a major role in the Allied victory.

The group arrived before lunch and included special guests Maksymilian Zycha, Consul of the Republic of Poland and Honorary Consul Boguslaw Nowak.  Most of the community members arrived on a bus generously sponsored by the Polish Embassy in Wellington.

Nina welcomed everyone and explained the agenda for the day.

Nina introduced Maksymilian, who also welcomed the group.

Thomas then gave a welcome in Polish and English!

Mahrukh welcomed everyone, and also gave a brief talk about the CUE Haven restoration project as many of the guests were visiting CUE Haven for the first time.

Many members in the group went for a walk up to the CUE Haven viewing platform and enjoyed the views from Te Rite o Taranaki.

After the walk we all enjoyed a very delicious international lunch – a traditional Maori hangi – cooked in a traditional pit by our friends and neighbours at Te Aroha marae, and Polish pastries – baked by some of the Polish community members. 

Maxsymillian led the group in a thanksgiving prayer before lunch.

And young teenagers volunteered to help serve the hangi boxes.

Over the years, the Polish community have planted several commemorative trees at CUE Haven and this year they planted a kahikatea as a memorial remembering the many lives lost in the Battle of Monte Cassino.

The tree was planted in the wetlands near Wahi Maramatanga.  Nina, Boguslaw and another guest gave a brief talk about the battle and the contribution of the Polish army.

Elizabeth, a talented young flutist, played a hymn dedicated to the battle and the Polish national anthem which the group sang along to.

The kahikatea tree was then planted.

Everyone continued socializing the rest of the afternoon. Nina and her committee members had organised games and activities for the children.

The afternoon ended with the young teenagers leading the adults in a fun Macarena dance.

It was a wonderful day of celebrating and commemorating and we want to thank Nina and the Auckland Polish Association for organizing the event.  And a special thank you to Consul of the Republic of Poland Maksymilian Zycha and Honorary Consul Bogusław Nowak for their support.

We always enjoy spending time with the Polish community and meeting new members and we look forward to having many more fun community days at CUE Haven.