(CNN) Four adventurous children aged between 10 and 14 packed a stolen family car with fishing rods and took off on an epic 600-mile road trip along the Australian coast, authorities have said.

One of the children left a goodbye note for their parents before leaving for the mammoth journey, which ended several hours later when police tracked down the parked car along a highway in New South Wales, authorities told CNN.

The kids likely shared driving responsibilities during the 930-kilometer (578-mile) trip from Rockhampton in Queensland to Grafton in New South Wales, police added, after taking a four-wheel-drive Nissan Patrol car belonging to one of their parents.

The runaways were taken into custody at 10:40 p.m. on Sunday evening (8:40 a.m. ET) and could now face charges.

"It's a pretty big journey. It's a long way for a person to do it, but I suppose a couple cans of Red Bull and you're likely to do anything," inspector Darren Williams told CNN affiliate Nine News.

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