After Covid arrived in New Zealand, Queenstowner Rhianna Farrington found herself struggling to get out of the house and meet people while working from home.
So, she organised a meet-up through an existing Facebook page, which 16 people turned up to.
That sparked an idea to create her own Facebook group, providing a safe space for local women to make new friends and explore the Whakatipu.
Originally from the UK, Farrington, 28, says she started ‘Queenstown Girls Social’ last August — it now boasts more than 800 members, comprising women from all different walks of life, who can introduce themselves, find people with common interests and meet up.
She creates group chats for ‘outdoorsy girls’, ‘book nerds’, and ‘mums of QT’, for example, and lets people go from there, while members also organise their own activities, based on hobbies.
Some of the original 16 people from the first catch-up are still actively involved.
‘‘They’re some of my best friends, now,’’ Farrington says.
Regardless of how many people turn up to the events, ‘‘it’s the best feeling just seeing a bunch of strangers mingling … and later seeing them catching up outside of the group’’.
