After a 3-year wait, why not make a day of it

Six electoral staff will be on hand at what was Te Aroha's busiest booth in 2002. Picture / Alan Gibson

Voting need not be merely the exercising of your democratic rights.  Here are some ways that voters at five polling stations might spend the day.

Barnett Hall, Marine Parade, Piha, West Auckland.
Polling station for: Waitakere
Demographic: Surfie, creative and environmental types.
Amenities: Parking and toilet facilities are on-site, and four workers will be stationed at Barnett Hall, one of the oldest polling stations in Auckland.
With Piha's rugged surf and black ironsand beaches, you could pack your boogie board, frisbee, sunblock and nibbles - not forgetting your EasyVote card - and make a day of it. The hall is situated 40km from Auckland city, so the queues are unlikely to be as long as at other polling booths closer to metropolitan areas.
Fun fact: Depending on the weather on polling day, a high number of special votes tend to be cast at Barnett Hall, because of the number of visitors coming from outside the electorate.

All Saints Church Hall, Cnr Cowan St and Ponsonby Rd, Ponsonby, Auckland.
Polling station for: Auckland Central.
Demographic: Auckland's pink capital is cappuccino mile by day, and a hub of cuisine and night life once the sun sets. Home to professionals, creative types and students.
Amenities: One of the electorate's busiest in 2002, the station's 11 electoral staff are bracing themselves for about 2000 voters. The church has 12 parking spaces on site, and numerous kerbside parks. But in a city where a parking spot right outside your venue of choice could bring tears of joy - particularly on a Saturday - parking is on a first come, first served basis.
Built in 1866, All Saints Church is a short hop away from Ponsonby's generally chic coffee bars, restaurants and boutique retailers.
Fun fact: Due to the density of A- and B-list celebrities in the electorate and their penchant for hanging out in Ponsonby, don't be surprised to bump into the likes of Lana Coc-Kroft, Matthew Ridge and Marc Ellis.

Te Aroha Primary School, Jubilee Ave, Te Aroha.
Polling station for: Piako.
Demographic: Small country town whose primary sustenance is the farming and horse racing industries. An increasing number of big-city folk looking to escape the rat race have also settled in Te Aroha.
Amenities: Six electoral staff will be working at what was the town's busiest polling station in 2002. About an hour from Cambridge and Hamilton, Te Aroha hosts an 11.7ha Edwardian-style domain, which houses the renowned mineral pools and hot spa baths.
After casting your vote, spend the day doing a leisurely bushwalk or mountain biking up Mt Te Aroha. Or follow the heritage trail of historic buildings and monuments dating back to the early 1880s, including Cadman House Museum - New Zealand's original sanatorium - and the Queen Ann Pipe Organ, built in 1712 and the oldest pipe organ in the Southern Hemisphere.
Fun fact: Schools - such as Te Aroha's - make up the backbone of polling stations throughout the country.

Garage, 110 Duncan Tce, Melrose, Wellington.
Polling station for: Rongotai.
Demographic: Wellington suburbia, containing everything from million-dollar homes to modest housing.
Residents are mainly families, although its proximity to a high rental area means the suburb is also home to plenty of young couples.
Amenities: Slightly larger than your average single garage, the polling station offers pleasant lighting and heating for the comfort of the two issuing officers - and its voters, who are likely to walk from neighbouring houses and streets. Up to 500 are expected this time.
Just 15 minutes from central Wellington, the property is situated on a hillside where, on a clear day, there are views of Cook Strait, Wellington Airport and Kilbirnie. Also a short drive from Lyall Bay, home of Wellington's premier surf beach.
Fun fact: The home garage, located in deepest suburbia and in use since 1999, is one of a shrinking number used as polling stations throughout the country. Private homes are still vital in areas where there are no public facilities.

Public hall, Little Akaloa, Banks Peninsula.
Polling station for: Banks Peninsula.
Demographic: Rural New Zealand at its prettiest and loneliest. The tiny residential population farms sheep and cattle, as they have done for generations, while holiday homes dominate the beachfront. Only one home on Little Akaloa beach has a permanent resident.
Amenities: The polling station's two issuing officers are expecting at most 60 voters all day, so crowds should not be a problem.
The local shop, run out of the front room of a house, has long closed, and the school shut recently due to a lack of numbers.
But Little Akaloa does have a tennis club, believed to be the only one active on the peninsula. An hour's drive from Christchurch, the station offers sheer natural beauty. It is on the flat, but a short way up the hill is a commanding view of the land and harbour. An early settler stone church with Maori and European carvings is nearby too.
Fun fact: Little Akaloa was known as Little Akaroa until the 1860s, when a typographical error changed its name to what it is known as today. In many of the smaller settlements, polling stations are still run in order to make it easy for locals to vote. 

VOTING TIPS

* Remember - you have two votes. Your electorate vote is for your local MP. Your party vote is for the party you want. Take your EasyVote card with you. If you forget your card, just give your name to staff. If you don't have a card, but have been sent a letter from the Chief Electoral Officer, take the letter with you.

* If you're out of your electorate today, and you have not made an advance vote, you can make a special declaration vote anywhere in the country. Polling places are open for voting from 9am to 7pm. Peak hours are between 9am and 11am. A list of your nearest polling stations can be found in your EasyVote pack, at www.elections.org.nz or by calling 0800 36-76-56.

* Workers have a legal right for time off to vote after 3pm if they have not already voted.