''We're networking to help each other settle in, sharing tips and useful local knowledge, and we'll see where this leads,'' Lex Coutts, of Alexandra, said.
Mr Coutts, who moved to Alexandra three years ago after his home was destroyed in the February 22, 2011, earthquake, organised a meeting last week for other ''new settlers'' who had moved into the district since the earthquakes.
About 30 people attended the meeting, trading local knowledge on all kinds of things, from contacts for sports and music groups through to where to buy reasonably priced fruit and vegetables and landscape materials.
''I just had a light-bulb moment one day and thought there must be other people out there who have recently settled here - and there's still a steady trickle of people coming in - who had all that information at their fingertips where they were and now have to start again and build up that network,'' Mr Coutts said.
''I wanted to share local knowledge to make it easier for them to settle here and make new friends.''
The group agreed to meet regularly and share information via email to dunshakin@gmail.com.
Mr Coutts said the group was geared towards offering practical information.
Social agencies already existed to help anyone who needed counselling as a result of their earthquake experiences.
The last census revealed 333 Cantabrians had moved to Central Otago between 2008 and 2013.
''Although we can't attribute that whole number to the earthquakes, I think probably half of them would have moved here because of the earthquakes,'' he said.
The census figures said a further 774 Cantabrians moved into the Queenstown Lakes district within those three years.
''Some who moved here have opened businesses and employed staff and we've brought ideas and our money with us, of course, and are getting to know a whole new place and settling in and being happy here.''
''The collective survival spirit we had, where we did things to survive and to look after one another, that's what's been the catalyst for this new group - the continuation of that spirit.''
The meeting was supported by Neighbourhood Support, church groups and Central Otago Reap.
