Old
school "meet your mate while doing what you love" still works. I know more than a few people who initially met while being members of the sailing club with very active social life. As opposed to not so active one of which unfortunately I was a
member of when
learning to sail 20 years ago. And they were 2-3 blocks apart but I just didn't know about it at the time. The active one hosts 2-3 weekly
beer and wine parties after the races and has once a month bigger themed parties as well as end of the season always popular Halloween Party. The club has literally thousands of paid members of whom more than a few hundred are very active in both the
racing and the party scene. There are similar clubs on both coasts and probably on the
Great Lakes as well.
PS Oops, saw that you're in
Sydney. But the above approach may still be applicable to your neck of the woods.