GOAT ON A BOAT: Brando Yelavich at Tahunanui Beach following his trip from Cable Bay. Mr Yelavich shot a goat, seen strapped on top of the kayak, during the journey.

Brando Yelavich's extraordinary adventure, which has involved bushwhacking down the country's west coast and a diet of weta and seagulls, is all about the search for truth and happiness.

Mr Yelavich, 19, arrived in Nelson yesterday with a dead goat strapped across his kayak, having shot it while paddling from Cable Bay to Tahunanui Beach.

Since he left Cape Reinga on February 1 on a mission that has involved walking and kayaking, he has survived on what he has hunted off the land and sea. The goat was stranded on a rock by the incoming tide, and Mr Yelavich said he thought "dinner", and shot it with the crossbow he carries.

The Auckland teenager with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dyslexia, who never fitted into mainstream school, is instead fulfilling ambitions of tackling the outdoors. He is also raising funds for Ronald McDonald House Charity, and has collected almost $5000 in proceeds so far.

"I always struggled with learning and always got into trouble. I needed to be able to learn in the outdoors.

"Some people are good at academics and some are good at other things. I know everything there is to know about survival."

Mr Yelavich has celestial navigation skills which allow him to find his way by reading the stars.

"Being alone all the time, there's not much else to do," he said.

The ambitious journey is supported by his parents Todd and Donella Yelavich. It has also attracted the interest of the Department of Conservation.

"Dad has been a big part of this. He calls it my university," Mr Yelavich said.

Since leaving his Greenhithe, Auckland, home in February, Mr Yelavich has traversed the North Island's west coast, kayaked the Marlborough Sounds and part of d'Urville Island, before stopping overnight at the Cable Bay Farm and Holiday Park on his way to Nelson.

While here he hopes to spend a few days imparting his message to school pupils that in life, everyone can succeed, and it is important to find something you are good at because "all you need in life is to be happy".

He then plans to walk to Golden Bay and Farewell Spit before venturing south down the West Coast, via the beaches, rocky coastline, and bush to Fiordland where he plans to do more kayaking.

"I just take every day as it comes. Every day is a surprise," he said.

There have been "some very rough days", and times when he has been very hungry. He carries only one boil-in-the-bag meal, and relies on his hunting skills for the rest.

The worst thing he has eaten so far was a weta. "It was the most disgusting thing. It was just horrid and tasted revolting, like it had gone off inside its ‘shell'."

The tastiest thing so far was a seagull.

"I was surprised. It was really, really sweet. It wasn't like chicken - everything tastes like chicken."

Mr Yelavich shot it with an air rifle he carried, but has since discarded because it was not allowed on Department of Conservation land.

The scariest thing so far was being marched off Maori land in Taharoa on the North Island west coast, southwest of Kawhia Harbour.

"They put me in a car and took me to the top of the road and told me not to come back."

The most beautiful thing has been the sunsets, and the most surprising was that his girlfriend Ella-Rose was still waiting for him.

Mr Yelavich plans to walk around Stewart Island before making his way back to Cape Reinga up the country's east coast. He aims to be home in around 18 months.

For more information visit wildboy.co.nz or follow Mr Yelavich on his GPS tracker on FollowBrando.co.nz