Resilience born of outsider’s life
ON THE WEST COAST of the South Island, past deep fiords, glassy lakes, forested valleys and snow-capped mountains, lies the Long family cabin. It was here that Chris Long spent the first 17 years of his life, two days' hike from the nearest road. A vivid and awe-inspiring account of Chris's life so far, The Boy from Gorge River tells the story of how an extraordinary childhood shaped an extraordinary life.
We asked Chris some questions:
Describe your day-to-day life as a kid at Gorge River. What did you do living so far away from civilisation? My sister and I were each other's only playmates, and we had the whole world around us to play in. We made up games using toys that Mum and Dad built for us, copying what we saw local pilots and fisherman do in the wilderness around us. I followed Mum and Dad's every move and learnt how to grow a garden, catch fish, and make, build and fix almost any tool, motor or equipment.
I was home-schooled for primary level before enrolling with The Correspondence School for high school. I would complete all my lessons on rainy days so as to have more time for fishing when the sun came out. Every six months or so, my family would pack our bags and set off on a four-to-five day hike out to town where we would visit family and friends. We would spend a month or so exploring what the outside world had to offer.
And what were the biggest challenges with this remote lifestyle? The biggest challenge was the lack of other people. None of my family are quiet or enjoy solitude; it's just how it is when living so isolated. Usually we would have a visitor every few days, however sometimes as a family we would go for up to six or seven weeks without another person to talk to. At times as a teenager, I felt lonely not having other kids my own age. What were some of the things that you experienced and learnt living at Gorge River that others in the twenty-first century have never had the chance to learn? I learned how to be resourceful and self-sufficient, as well as to be tough and resilient growing up in a really unforgiving environment where small mistakes could be a much more serious threat than any made in a city.
What was it like, when you actually left Gorge River and moved into the outside world?
To this day, leaving home was the hardest decision of my life. I loved Gorge River and was fully immersed in the life I had there. However, I also knew that I was growing out of my early life and that things would eventually need to change, so going to a school would be the easiest way to
transition. My first couple of weeks at Mt Aspiring College in Wa¯naka were really exciting but also daunting and scary. I settled in fast, and it didn't take long before I was thriving into my new surroundings.
How did you use your skills from Gorge River to thrive in the outside world? When it came to outdoor pursuits, I had a huge head-start on most people. I was already used to living in one of the wildest and most rugged environments on Earth and so all I had to do was learn how to teach and lead others into these same sorts of environments.
How did growing up at Gorge River prepare you for life when you did eventually leave Gorge River as a 17-year-old? Although I missed out on many social aspects of a teenager's life, Gorge River gave me a really unique range of skills and life experience that few others in the 21st century have. It took me about three years to fully adapt to living in the outside world, and there were some challenges for sure. However, once I had learned the ways of life in social and city environments, I suddenly realised how my upbringing set me apart from everyone else in positive ways. I'd spent my entire life looking out at the world and learning about different countries and events that had happened around the globe. And so, for me, going from Gorge River to Wa¯naka was the same as going from Wa¯naka to Norway or Canada or Antarctica. I had no commitments and nowhere I needed to be, so off I went in search of new places and experiences to feed my curiosity. Now I have been to over 60 countries on six continents, and I feel my journey has only just begun.