Unlike our Santa's arrival on a sleigh from the North Pole, the Dutch Sinterklaas (St. Nicholas) traditionally arrives by sea from Spain in Amsterdam in mid-November, the beginning of the Sinterklaas season.
When he arrives in his stately Bishop robes, he mounts a white horse for a ride through the streets of Amsterdam throwing cookies and candies to the spectators.
Black Peter, black because of the soot from the chimney, accompanies St. Nicholas carrying a sack to take away the naughty boys and girls. A very frightening prospect!
On Sinterklaasavond (St. Nicholas Day Eve) the children put out their wooden shoes filled with hay and carrots for St. Nicholas' horse, hoping to find them filled with small candies and treats instead of a switch and the fate of Black Peter's sack.
Sources include: "The Story of Santa Claus" by Teresa Chris
Sinterklaas figure is from The International Santa Claus Collection