Brando Yelavich, aka Wildboy, is farewelled by students from Halfmoon Bay School on Stewart Island as he begins his 400km journey around the island today. Photo / Brando Yelavich
Brando Yelavich, aka Wildboy, is farewelled by students from Halfmoon Bay School on Stewart Island as he begins his 400km journey around the island today. Photo / Brando Yelavich
He circumnavigated the New Zealand coast line, and now Wildboy is conquering Stewart Island.
Wildboy's - aka Brando Yelavich - latest mission is expected to take about 60 days.
About a year ago, Yelavich became the first person to walk the entire coastline of New Zealand, an expedition that took 600 days and spanned 8700km.
The 22-year-old today began his new journey, which will see him trek through more than 400km worth of wilderness stopping at 27 remote locations across the island.
"Stewart Island is the missing link to my epic coastal adventure and I'm coming back to finish the job," he says.
Pupils at the island's Halfmoon Bay School hope to have brought him some luck when they went to the beach to walk with him for the first 30 minutes of his journey.
As for why he's putting himself through a trek into the unknown again, Yelavich said he enjoyed helping inspire the followers on his Facebook page with his crazy adventures.
He intends to survive on 30 freeze-dried meals from Absolute Wilderness for the first 30 days, but he intends to "live off the land" for the remainder of the time.
Brando Yelavich's kit for his 400km expedition around Stewart Island. Photo / Facebook
After being diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia in his school years, Yelavich was on a path to self-destruction. Iis transformational journey changed his perspective on the world and the people in his life. He wrote a New Zealand bestseller titled Wildboy and forged a new future.
"I have a hunger for exploration and to inspire others to live their dreams, which is why I'm tackling Stewart Island. I love stepping into the unknown and facing challenges where the outcome is yet to be determined."
Yelavich has also been nabbed by the GoPro ANZ team as a content creator, allowing him to document his trip.
Tourism agency Venture Southland is also on board.
"It's great to have someone with Brando's adventurous spirit and technological know-how to go on this trip so that we can all get a feel for the outreaches of New Zealand," tourism and events manager Warrick Low says.
"As he gets to the southern half, his only company will be natives like the kiwi, great white sharks and whitetail deers."
Yelavich says he had good weather at the start of the trip, but the weather was incredibly changeable on the island so he is prepared for anything.
