Alfine 8 gear crunch Occasionally under load when taking off on the flat, I would get a crunch, then it runs smoothly.

After reading the other post I had tightened the wheel nuts but this has not fixed the issue. I have checked the yellow lines align also. It occurs in variety of gears. The bike was only 1 week old before it happened and it was next day after ride in rain.

I live in NZ and bought the bike in Australia, so taking back to vendor is not a option. For interests sake it's a focus planet belt drive.
I'm not sure what kind of 'crunch' you experience, but I have a possibly similar behavior of my Alfine 11 hub when I switch gears and I apply some force on the pedals.

Resting my foot on the pedal while standing and shifting is enough for the internal gears to not complete the shift, when I start pedaling, the gears engage in the speed I shifted giving a noticeable crunching noise.