InterContinental Sanctuary Cove – COVID-19 Honeymoon Part 2

On the way from Eumeralla Shores to the Gold Coast, we decided to drop into my Grandma’s house to show some wedding photos and videos. At 92, it was too dangerous for her to attend but we know that she would have been there if she could have. It was a lovely visit and a well needed pit stop as we still had another 2.5 hours drive ahead of us.

Another stop along the way was our apartment, to drop off some things we didn’t need anymore and to get some fresh supplies. It felt really good to be home, which was surprising as we loved every second in our Noosa retreat. We had to remind ourselves that we had our wedding only four days prior, even though we both felt like weeks had passed. Home did feel a little empty though without our cat Luna to greet us, hoping to score some extra biscuits.

We spent a little longer at home then we had planned, which meant there would be more traffic on the roads. We also realised that the long weekend had begun (the reason we couldn’t stay longer in the cottage) making the traffic even worse. After a much longer than expected journey, we eventually reached Sanctuary Cove, the roads were paved brick, with beautiful shrubbery and modern art sculptures. Rocking up to the hotel we were greeted with an ostentatious sand stone building that was the InterContinental.

Now I had been to the InterContinental before in Chengdu, China and are familiar with the extraordinary decadence and luxury that are in full display in places like this. When we were checking in there were only two types of guests; affluent international travellers* and local bogans. Not sure and slightly worried which category we belonged to, we got our room keys and hopped on our buggy (not unlike our Vanuatu holiday) to our room. This is when the panic started setting in.

* not sure how this is possible as the borders are closed.

I think it was the combination of two things, firstly from staying at the Emporium for our wedding nights, then the beautiful spacious bungalow in Noosa, visiting our small but comfortable home then finally walking into this tiny one bedroom apartment. It was so cramped and lacked so many things we had relied on. For instance it said fridge in the room, but had only a minibar with no space for anything else, microwave and not even a sink other than the one in the toilet.

The other reason we were stressed was our isolation anxiety game flooding back, we took it very seriously for the last five months and the wedding and Noosa had helped shed some of the walls we had built up. However the thought of being confined to this small space for six days felt truly terrifying.

Using food as a way to de-stress, as bad habit as it is, I had been looking forward for ages to getting room service the first night we arrived. Pulling up the ‘in room dining’ menu, we were stunned. The Emporium had such a broad selection of options at affordable prices, but here there were only five options total. Not only that, but most of the food was either too fancy for our unsophisticated palates, or full of things we didn’t want to or could not eat. To top it off, they were all so expensive that it was impossible to justify ordering anything.

Instead we decided to search the local area for alternatives. As it had started getting late, we didn’t have time to fully research our options and that we are in sucky a secluded location of the Gold Coast there isn’t a plethora of options to choose from. We eventually settled on burgers that were a good 15 minute drive away, but was the safest option and we just wanted to eat at this point.

The next morning we woke up in a bit better of a mood, reminding ourselves that we could yeet back home whenever we wanted. A short walk back to the main room where we had an a la carte breakfast for $1, a COVID special. After a brief case of our joint invisibility to service staff (an unfortunate superpower we posses) the food came and was delicious and too much.

After brekky we went exploring the Sanctuary Cove Marine Park, a short five minute walk from our room. We were relieved to find a plethora of shops and restaurants available. We ear marked a few to return to later and returned to our hotel. We have reignited our interest in reading on the honeymoon and wanting to buy some books to read, we next decided to venture to a nearby shopping centre.

The mix of people here is really unique, you have the ultra rich in their expensive cars (so many personalised number plates) and then the more unprivileged parts of society, all intermingled together. It’s quite different from many of the suburbs I have lived in Brisbane where there is usually less of a disparity. Anyway, we got some supplies then headed off to dinner, the third highest rated restaurant in Hope Island.

Named ‘Tasty Magic’, a Chinese restaurant that has been family owned for over 35 years. The quality of the meat was superb, especially compared to other places. Both the prices and speed was also excellent. What made it really unique was the owners friendliness, for example when we finished our meal they brought over a plate of lollies for us to enjoy, like the big kids we are. We also received two fortune cookies which we took as a positive omen as we had handmade fortune cookies as our wedding favours.

That night and into the next day we kept expecting the food to make us sick, but it never did. Even my beloved Jackpot usually hits like a truck, but not this place. Would definitely recommend and will be hopefully back one day to enjoy again.

The next morning was pretty uneventful, breakfast again at the hotel but this time it was significantly busier than yesterday. An entitled asshole was in the queue behind us, and wouldn’t stop complaining because they had asked him to book a time slot to come to breakfast and yet he couldn’t just walk in when he arrived. We both had to hold our tongue to not say anything but my god rich people are so entitled.

About the Author

Mannan

Mannan is a software engineering enthusiast and has been madly coding since 2002. When he isn't coding he loves to travel, so you will find both of these topics on this blog.

1 thought on “InterContinental Sanctuary Cove – COVID-19 Honeymoon Part 2

    • Author gravatarAuthor gravatar

      Hi Mannan and Tanya. Well you can’t say your honeymoon wasn’t interesting. At least you have time to check things out. Enjoy and relax the time you have left to holiday. It sure has been an interesting year😂 for everyone. Loved your wedding photos. Your Great Grandma would have loved seeing you wearing a kilt. Love Auntie Kathryn

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