Mt Tamborine – Final COVID-19 Honeymoon Part 3

Mt Tamborine – Final COVID-19 Honeymoon Part 3

Deciding to make the most of the facilities at the InterContinental, I decided to try out the pool. There is a super heated spa, a heated pool and an artificial beach (think South Bank) pool. As the entire hotel was inundated with guests for the long weekend, the only one that was almost empty was the beach, so braving the cold I went for a quick dip. Only lasting a short while, I found an Adults Only section to escape the children and found a nice sun bed to lay down in. For the first time since arriving here I felt a sense of calm.

Not having much to do for the rest of the day, Tanya and I got stuck into our books. Wanting to do something special at night time, we decided to go out to see a movie, our first time in over six months! We found a drive-in theatre as that would be the most COVID safe option and headed to Yatala. Whenever you go to Yatala, it’s a Queensland law to stop and grab a pie at the famous pie shop. It was slightly unsettling, the usually packed establishment was still busy, but almost no one was staying around to eat.

We found a table and got dug into our pepper state pies, and my god these were the hottest pies I have ever had in my life. Somehow they had manage to turn it into molten lava or plasma but still looked like regular steak. After waiting a long time for it to cool down, it was finally cool enough for human consumption and was delicious.

We made the short distance from the Yatala Pie Shop to the drive-in to watch Star Wars: A New Hope, the first time either of us had seen it on the big screen. We had to navigate to the back lot with no lights, which was a mini-game in itself to avoid running over anyone in the pitch dark. Eventually we found a prime position and was stunned by the number of other people like us catching a movie.

The movie was great, but you could understand why people thought that it was going to be a flop before it was released. It rides the line between ridiculous and great at the same time. So many of the lines that made it into the movie were improvised by the actors which helped offset the stiff script.

The next morning we got the pleasure of sleeping in as we decided to forgo the $1 breakfast here. Instead we found a wonderful little brunch placed named ‘Pier B’, only a short five minute walk away. I ordered the least-healthy option on the menu, Eggs Benny on a croissant and as you can no doubt imagine, it was as glorious as it sounds.

The rest of the day was pretty much a carbon copy of the day before, lounging at the hotel, enjoying the pools and reading. As the majority of people checking out on Sunday, the end of the long weekend, even the heated pools were empty so I got to enjoy them in peace. For dinner we found a typical pub food joint right near where we had brunch. I got an Angry Angus Burger and was, for some reason, surprised when it contained a lot of spicy heat.

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The next morning was like so many here, sleep in till 9am, get our $1 breakfast and coffee then back to the room to start the day’s adventure. Today we were heading to Mt Tamborine to look at the glow worms. Everyone always recommends wine and cheese tours but hating wine and avoiding dairy doesn’t make it too appealing.

The glow worms was a new adventure (fun fact: they are not worms) and most people were there with children but being the big kids we are, it didn’t bother us. We also took sometime to walk the boutique shops around the area and buy some lunch & sweets for ourselves to enjoy later.

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Back at the nearly deserted hotel, we arrived just as our room was about to be cleaned. We tried to refuse the service but they insisted so we sat outside and made friends with the wildlife. Next, I jumped into the heated spa by myself and got lost in my book. Eventually the night came and I headed to ‘Sushi Break’ one of our regulars staples back in the real world, but had been sorely missed on our honeymoon.

We tuned into our regular Monday TV shows with a pinch of sadness that our holiday was fast approaching it’s end. The next and final morning was covered with apprehension about returning to the real world. However the thought of being reunited with Luna was a great comfort.

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We drove to the ‘Fox and Hound’ to fulfil our desire all those years ago in England, to have a traditional roast in a British pub. Unfortunately, we were again unsuccessful as they don’t do roasts for lunches! We settled for a cottage pie and a chicken schnitzel with a crisp apple cider. I will give credit to the venue though, it did have a sense of a traditional pub, full of sporting memorabilia and politically incorrect cartoons.

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Back at the InterContinental, we said goodbye to the kangaroos and joeys, went for a final dip in the spa and finished off my book. It was the first time in years that I have finished a book in ages and is testimony of how relaxed I had managed to be on the honeymoon. We went to reception to check out to the bewilderment of reception. They couldn’t understand why we were leaving when we had tomorrow morning available to us.

Wanting the comfort of our own beds and avoiding the checkout rush in the morning was enough for us, as we bid Sanctuary Cove farewell and headed back to Brisbane.

The honeymoon was certainly not what we had planned for originally in the pre-COVID world. No planes or experiencing different cultures, no comedy festivals or cafés in Amsterdam. Instead it was re-exploring areas we had been visiting since we were children, finding time to do nothing and eating delicious food. In the end, it was probably for the best, the stress of travelling (even in a pandemic free world) on top of the wedding without time to take it all in and reflect, might have been too much.