FROM north to south and east to west, a searching I did go for the pulse in Cowper on election day.
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The vibe was mostly amicable, as the leaflet bearers for various persuasions put their all into swaying any of the late deciders.
At Nambucca Heads Public School, the guns fell briefly silent as the campaigners of all character joined as one for a group photo in a touching kumbaya moment.
But it wasn't all beers and skittles, and as Nancy Sinatra once intoned "you've been lyin' when you ought to be truthin'", - as verbal snipes fired back and forth over signage.
Corflutes too large, mysteriousy repositioned by enemy fire et al was the jist of the angst.
While at Bellingen there was some gnashing of herbivore teeth from the absence of vegan Democracy Sausages.
Phil Nickl from 1st Bellingen Scouts was on the tongs and said they'd elected to go traditional today, despite considerable success with plant-based snags at an earlier Bunnings barbie - "where we actually sold out".
Not that they struggled with the meaty offerings - going through 16kg of beef sausages and 9kg of bacon.
Like any good Scout, Group Leader Carol Robinson was duly prepped, and noted that they did offer gluten free snags and bread, and that it had been busier than their last big fry-up at the State Election.
"Oh, and if you could add in that we are looking for (Scout) leaders who want to join in the fun," Carol blurted, seizing the opportunity.
Down the road at South West Rocks Public School, the local Lions were also feeling conventional, with bacon and egg rolls and snags.
"It's dead now but this morning there was a queue," Lion Brian Nelson said.
Out front, Mark Murphy was handing out Rob Oakeshott how to vote flyers.
"Most people are quite friendly - though not everybody," Mark quipped of his fellow leaflet-bearing encouragers.
"It's good to help people, especially with the change in the Senate where before you could just vote one above the line and now you have to vote six. So it's good to be able to assist people in the process of democracy."
At Frederickton, the sole presence at the gate to the school was the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers - and with no candidate for the Lower House, their focus was on the Senate, while at Urunga Public School Paul Mersh was bright in Labor red.
"I'm actually from Bellingen, and a recent arrival from South Australia where I came from a strong Labor seat," Paul said.
He believed the Bob Hawke factor was unlikely to change votes, though he hoped many would reflect on the former PM's contribution to "women's rights, the environment and floating the dollar".
Back at The Red School at Nambucca Heads, Michael Harmer was campaigning for The Nationals Pat Conaghan - and he was doing an all-dayer from 5am to close of polls at 6pm.
And his key to sustaining the energy levels: "just thinking about lots of beers afterwards".