The Bearded Bushranger

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Australia
Melbourne, VIC
The Bearded Bushranger

Family man Bushranger. Roaming the outdoors in heritage gear. Inspired by the old timers. My name is Luke Vandenberg.

I am passionate about taking my children on wild adventures and teaching them life lessons through story telling and nature.

18/09/2026

I love winter camping by a fire. You can build up a nice long fire to sleep by and get through a chilly frosty night. No need for a sleeping bag or blanket, the warmth of the fire is enough to get you through. I love the ebb and flow of the fire through the night. Falling asleep to a nice warm blaze and waking up an hour or so later, feeling the cold seep in while the flames have died down and the embers glow. A nice stack of dried wood within arms reach is all that is needed, and a couple of logs placed on the hot bed of coals will soon enough light up and the new blazing fire warms your blood as you slowly fall asleep again feeling comfortable and warm. Repeat this process throughout the night until morning comes and you know you have made it through.
I did this again recently on what was going to be one of the coldest nights of the winter in my area. Of course, this is nothing extreme. The coldest temps I get where I live on the farm usually would only reach -1.c or -2.c max for a few hours in the early morning. But still cold enough to put a chill into you.
Video going on Sunday afternoon.

13/09/2026

How to Make a Tradtional Kangeroo Fur Hat

12/09/2026

ATTENTION TO ANYONE IN THE MILDURA AREA.
G'day everyone
I thought I would just reach out to my followers here. I am currently looking at doing an adventure down the Murray river in the first weeks of October. I'm trying to find option for transport to get me from my finishing point where I will leave my car, to my starting spot where I will have left my boat.
This is in the mildura / Robinvale area.
I'd be more then willing to pay someone for their time and transport costs and was curious to see if I had any followers here who might be open to helping out with this transport shuffle,
If so please feel free to message me.
Thanks.

08/09/2026

A couple of pictures into blue mountain history.
1. Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson were the first officially recognized European crossing of the mountains in 1813. But did you know many years before in the late 1700s an ex-convict from the first fleet called John Wilson the wild white man, claimed to have crossed these mountains, and reported this to the governor at the time. He had been living with the local Dharug indigenous tribe for many years and his descriptions of the plains on the other side, match what Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson described all those years later. But the later rich pastorlists got the fame with thier names remembered throughout history.
2. The mountains hemmed in the new prison colony for a quarter of a century before people started venturing into the interior of the country. The mountains were too formidable, and many an expedition failed at crossing. For 25 years the settlements only extended inwards from Sydney, up to the base of these mighty mountains.
3. Cox's road was built over 6 months and finished in 1815 which largely followed the route blaxlands team had blazed. Cox's road was built by a team of convicts who volunteered and many of them got tickets of leave after completing the road.
4. In the 1870s the railway extended all the way to katoomba, and this led to a burst of tourism from Syndey. Rich city folks started venturing into these mountains for tours, dressed in some of the most fashionable 1800s garb at the time.
5. A fella named Myles Dunphy became a bit of a trail blazer in his own right in the early 1900s, and helped establish a strong bushwalking culture in Australia. Founding the mountain trails club and helping contribute to the blue mountains becoming a national park all those years later.
6. Throughout the1900s the bushwalking scene in Australia really kicked off. The famous Sydney Bushwalkers club was born out of the area. The new wave of explores mapped the rest of the mountains, who instead of looking for land to settle simply wanted to commune with nature and find places to protect.

06/09/2026

New Video up on the bearded bushranger youtube channel.
Get into it.

04/09/2026

The morning farm rounds with Aussie legend The Bearded Bushranger

02/09/2026

I've been captivated by exploring this island home since I can remember! From catching lizards and insects as a little kid on summer holidays in the bush, to surfing on the coastlines in my teenage years, getting into hiking and fishing in my 20s, and now in my 30's doing more bushcraft, survival, hunting, traditional camping. Not long until I hit the big 40. I sure hope I can keep at it for a lot longer. I truly couldn't imagine an existence away from the wild places of this world. It fills my soul. And along the way I've met many like minded folk who share that same passion, just like The Silly Swagman here, who I recently did a 4 day trek exploring the wilds of the blue mountains with.
Grateful to have seen so much of this country and met some good folk along the way.
Video up on Sunday afternoon.

29/08/2026

The Original Rain Jacket from 100 years ago

28/08/2026

Couple of snaps from my trip with The Silly Swagman on the k2k.
One of the most demanding hikes I've done in a while! Getting older it's still great challenging yourself on these types of adventures. Sure many people have done the trek, and it's not the craziest thing out there. But with the rocky terrain, ascents and descents, and the recent scrub from bushfires causing the track to disappear in so many areas, it does demand your full attention.
Interesting that it's been perceived that It's so hardy to do all this with traditional gear. And in a sense, yes, the traditional gear will never be ultralight, and has that extra weight. But I have to say I don't think the traditional gear is so uncomfortable and heavy that it's unreachable for the average person and that you have to be some kind of hell man to use it. I honestly believe the traditional gear I was using on this trip is very usable and even comfortable for the average fit hiker. The idea of reducing your weight with heritage gear comes down to multifunction. Having pieces of equipment that can operate as multiple things. In the end my pack weighed slightly less then Mattsys, so it is completely feasible to get your traditional heritage gear down to a comfortable and acceptable weight.
Just remember, those bushwalking folk from the early 1900s were cutting all these tracks with these old school frame packs, canvas tents and wool clothing. They got by and so can we. Don't fall into the ultralight craze that the modern gear is the only direction you have to go when doing hiking and camping. Traditional camping does not have to always be some kind of hardy slog. What made the k2k treck so bloody hard was the terrain itself, not really the gear I was carrying. Mattsys vid is up now on his channel, and mine will be up next weekend.

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Melbourne, VIC

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https://www.youtube.com/@TheBeardedBushranger

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