Off the record - Craig Box

Hello everyone from "sunny" Cambridge, England.

Leaving New Zealand was a bit of a mission - packing always seems to take longer than you think it will. Especially if you're moving house at the same time! There was a lot of "this pile for now, this pile for later", and much more humour in counting of socks than I thought possible. After taking my "this pile for now" pile and cutting it in half, I was done, and only 90 minutes after we were supposed to leave for Auckland.

I wanted to buy a camera bag at Auckland duty free - not even booze or cigarettes, mind you - but by the time I'd picked one and waited in line for 3 mins, they told me I couldn't as my plane was boarding. So, if I was late on the plane (and there may have been some running to the gate), blame Regency! (The camera bag was $24.95 in Auckland and is £24.95 in a store here, so I might just wait a while.)

Sam and Zoe picked us up from Heathrow, and along with my friends Tom and Brendon, I've hired a house for a week. We're settled in nicely and uploaded some pictures.

There has been some concern we might be six feet underwater; it's been overcast, but as Dave Dobbyn says, "otherwise fine". We even went to a barbeque on Saturday evening. It's definitely summer here.

I have a temporary UK cellphone number - +44 7884 498 952. Please use this instead of my NZ number until further notice. Also, if you feel like catching up via Skype, I am crb-nz, and will be online every now and then.

What's news? Well, there's a lot really:

Quit my job

After four and a half fantastic years at IT Partners, I've decided it's time to move on and see the world. I couldn't have asked for a better job, especially straight out of university. I doubt you'd be able to find a better IT company to work for in Hamilton - if you see a job advertised, apply. And I hear there will be one coming up in October. Thanks to everyone I've worked with over the last five years, and see you all soon.

Left my flat

Lived at Nevada Road for 6 years; left for a year in the middle, so I'm familiar with the moving out process! If you end up visiting there in my absence, say hi to my stuff.

Moving to Canada

I've got a Letter of Introduction for a Canadian work visa, and I'll be arriving in .ca in September for excitement and adventure and really wild things. More to come. But first:

Holiday in England

My little spoon old flatmate Sammy is getting married! The wedding is in Cambridge, UK, and I'm there for a week and a half, before another three weeks traveling around - hope to see Dublin, Edinburgh, and some more of England (as well as the band James. Last time I was here it was Queen; I'm having a great run of catching reunions of otherwise defunct British bands!).

There are lots of stories from before I went that I have to write about; I'll intersperse them with tales of my trip as the time finds itself.