I've been talking about this to a few people.

My intention over the next couple of years is to move to New Zealand.

I want to fly over there for a few weeks to experience the way of life, to see what the work is like in Nelson and Auckland, and also to see what prices I am expected to pay when living in those areas. If it all looks good, then I will think about packing things up in the UK and moving over on a more permanent basis.

I know that this would suck because the average ping between NZ and UK is about 350ms. That means that I will still be able to play EQ2, but I doubt I will be able to play CSS or TF2 unless the global Internet situation improves (ie Internet2 comes out any time soon...)

The reason that I want to move over is simply because I am upset living in this country and I feel like it is not offering enough for me. I understand that I can get a lot more for my money in New Zealand. I don't like it that I work very hard in this country and do not get enough money to enjoy myself. I have lost a few friends over the past few months. I also feel like I am being chased by people that I don't want to be chased by. I basically just want to get away.

Let me know what your feelings are.

Do what feels right for you. You will be sorely missed by all of us though.

Sounds kinda exciting, definitely worth seeing if you really want to.

Of course you have my support (and your place in TCHS is still assured even if you can't play though it could be quite funny with a 350 ping )

New Zealand has fantastic views. You will enjoy yourself there. And don't worry about your ping, it would be extremely funny to see you around CSS and TF2 with 350 ping, although we may have to remove the ping limit so it doesn't kick you.
Remember to come to the LAN however.

I don't think we have a ping limit

NZ is epic. one of the most awesome places there is. give it a try for a few weeks bud and see how you feel <3

Go for it whatever will make you happy. Im deffo visiting NZ and Aus at some point supposed to be amazing places to live. I suppose now is a better time than any to do so.

is NZ still under the british war occupation? if you do move there aaron, can you do me a favor and take pics of smeagol/gollums burnt corpse for me?

That's a rather nasty request

I have found a good flight, leaving Heathrow on 4th June and returning on 1st July.

I have spoken to my manager about it and he has provisionally booked this in, and doesn't have a problem with it, unless somebody else does.

's a damn long stay.

Sounds like it could be fun.

You're leaving when my exams start, so be aware I will hate you for the entirety of that week

Might purchase this laptop:

Looks pretty swish, specs?

Core 2 Duo 2GHz, 3GB DDR2, 250GB HDD, Radeon 4530. Enough to play EQ2 and TF2, ping permitting. Screen resolution is 1366x768. Build quality is as you can see, spectacular. HP are really improving their build quality.

Pretty good spec, though 3GB RAM is odd.

Well, 4GB of RAM is a waste with 32-bit Vista.

True, but you only get 512MB, 1GB and 2GB sticks, so it would imply there are either 4 sticks (2x1GB or 2x512MB), which is more expensive and wasteful than 2x2GB, or that it's not dual channel. It's always confused me, is all.

I believe it's 1x 1024MB and 1x 2048MB sticks.

Just gotta confirm time off with my workmate, then I'll call my aunt and get the flight booked.

Quite excited about getting away.

So that means it's not dual channel, doesn't it? Surely that advantage of the extra RAM is negated by the massive loss of bandwidth

Sounding good with the New Zealand ness, though

Close, but wrong country.

a friend of mines recently been to New Zealand and loved it, have a great time