It was nearly a day later when authorities caught up to the group.
A road trip along Australia’s Gold Coast sounds like the vacation of a lifetime, and these kids had no intention of waiting until they were grown up to make the journey.
The group of four, aged 10 to 14 years old, stole the car of one of their parents to take a nearly 600-mile joy ride to go fishing before being caught several hours later, authorities said.
“I suppose a couple of cans of Red Bull and you're likely to do anything," Acting Inspector Darren Williams of the New South Wales state police said, according to the Australia Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
He explained that the kids, who are not related to each other, packed fishing rods and cash into a parent’s Nissan Patrol Saturday night. One of the children left a goodbye note.
The 14-year-old boy, two 13-year-old boys and one 10-year-old girl, who are all too young to have legal driving permits, then took off on the 560 mile road trip along the famous Gold Coast — from Gracemere in Queensland to Grafton in New South Wales, cops said.
Normally, the journey is more than a 10-hour drive, and authorities said they four kids likely took turns behind the wheel.
“It's a pretty big journey, and it's a long way for a young person,” Williams said.
Along the way, the group stopped for gas — and dashed off without paying, said gas station workers in Banana, central Queensland.
“He is really short,” the gas station attendant told Sydney’s Daily Telegraph, referring to security footage. “Look, he barely even reaches the window.”
Authorities finally caught up to the group Sunday night, parked off a highway west of Grafton.
"The children were directed to open the doors to the vehicles,” Williams said. “[But] they’ve locked themselves in the car and police have had to use a baton to get into the vehicle to arrest them.”
The kids were taken into custody shortly after and needed their parents to fly down to pick them up.
Police said there will be charges pressed after they are able to question the children in front of their parents.
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