'Pretty vicious' N.L. potholes cause unexpected trouble to Tasmanian tourists

A couple's recentvacation in Newfoundland hit an unexpected snag in the form of one sinister pothole, but the generosity of what followedhas made for some lasting memories of the trip.

Graham McLeanand his partner Carol Emden were visiting from Tasmania earlier this summer, taking in the sights of Gros Morne National Park "a knockout, completely," said McLean and hiking in the Trinity area.

Buteverything went awry for them, and their rental car, on Route 90 heading out from the Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve.

"Some of those potholes were pretty vicious,"a still-impressed McLean told CBC Radio's On The Go.

"We eventually managed to destroy two tires on the car on one side, in one pothole."

A couple of flat tires and couple of hours wasted on the side of the road didn't really bother us.- Graham McLean

The two managed to steer their ruined rental to the side of the road, where they were soon engulfed with offers of help before they could even flick on their hazard lights.

"Wewere overwhelmed with the spontaneous assistance of people just pulling up it was just sensational," said McLean.

'Surprising' generosity

Between offers of tea, food or the use of people's nearby toilets, the couplemanaged to call theirrental car company for a tow truck, although they were routed first to a call centre in the U.S. and then one in Ontario.

"Eventually they were able to direct a tow truck to us unfortunately, they gave the tow truck the wrong directions, so he wasted an hour trying to track us down," said McLean.

But the couple had no problem spending the hour in good companywitheveryone who stopped to see if they could help out the Tasmanians in their plight, something McLean saidisn't the norm back home.

"Idoubt very much if anybody would spontaneously pull up, if you just pulled over to the side of the road," he said."It was quite surprising."

'Didn't really bother us'

But perhaps the most surprisingtakeaway from the experience was the road conditions themselves, said McLean.

"Some of those potholes were pretty vicious," he said.

"I guess your roads suffer because of your brutal winter conditions, because Idon't know if I've ever driven on a road quite as bad, with wonderful potholes."

But even that experience hasn't dulled their overall review of the trip, and McLeanvows to return to take in more of the scenery someday.

"We were just going around with smiles on our faces most of the time,and a couple of flat tires and couple of hours wasted on the side of the road didn't really bother us."