Over the weekend, Mr Tong, 64, was elected chairman of the Borland Lodge Adventure and Education Trust, which oversees Borland Lodge in Western Southland, on the edge of Fiordland National Park.
The former Southland district mayor has long connections with the lodge.
"It is something I have been associated with since 1984. I managed it for six years from 1999 and have been a trustee ever since then," he said.
"I’m pretty rapt that the board has the confidence in me to become chairman and keep this great place moving forward.
"This is a beautiful part of the world — a real microclimate which can bring its own challenges but provides something completely different for anyone who is lucky enough to come here."
He said some tough decisions would have to be made but with a good board and hard-working volunteers, things were looking positive.
Borland Lodge came about when the accommodation for the workers was left behind when the construction of the Manapouri Power Station was completed.
Mr Tong was the sole police officer in Tuatapere when he first became involved with the camp.
When he left the force he became the manager and really enjoyed his six years running the camp.
During his time as manager, $1.2 million went into the lodge to update it and had stood it in good stead.
But there was always things to do to make the complex even better.
"We have got to progress the lodge itself. Get more bums on beds. Just remind people of what we have here. We cater from school age grade up. It is not just schools. It can be team building for businesses to birthday parties."
The lodge catered to up to 15 school groups on their camps during the year.
Mr Tong said the area was great for school pupils who still really enjoyed getting outdoors and exploring. There was also lots of other things to do at the lodge, including tramping and mountainbiking.
It had been one year since he lost the Southland mayoralty by a narrow margin to Rob Scott.
Mr Tong said it had taken three to four months to get the mayoralty out of his system, slowly switching his thinking. He is now the property manager at the Bupa rest-home at Riverton, a role he was enjoying.
