Well, your biggest step was to even find and join this site. I'm in a similar predicament at the moment, and I JUST found LessWrong last week.

I supposes you could find similar minded people if you try to join community groups/projects that you have interest in. Try sharing your ideas/thoughts on the various social media sites. I'm sure you won't get a bunch of responses if you have friends similar to mine, and the responses you do get will be sparse and not so worthwhile - but it's a great way to refine your thinking.

And as others have suggested, try contacting those who plan on going to the Melbourne meetup and see if there is a chance a future meetup could be organized closer to you.

Best of luck.