Merv is blind, but unstoppable
ALTHOUGH impressive, running the town service station in outback Windorah for 36 years wouldn't ordinarily appear all that unique.
But when one learns for the last 22 of those 36 years he was totally blind, it's little wonder Merv Ploger is considered something of a legend in Queensland's south west.
Mr Ploger lost his sight through diabetes 22 years ago at the age of 48 but to him being totally blind proved a mere setback that was never going to hold him down.
"You still have to get things done," he said matter-of-factly.
"I can't stand sitting around doing nothing."
So, with the support of wife of 39 years, Bub, Mr Ploger continued to run the Windorah service station, filling up, changing tyres and checking the engines of countless travellers driving through the Channel Country.
"A lot of them (customers) didn't know I was blind and I never told them," he grinned.
"And, it (being blind) does have its advantages.
"You can give them a bit of cheek and they don't knock you down."
Mr Ploger initially moved out to the Windorah district for work.
"I went out there working as a stockman when I was a kid in the early 1960s and I couldn't afford to get away," he said.
However, last month the Plogers eventually left Windorah and moved onto acreage on Toowoomba's outskirts to be closer to family.
"Thought it time to give it away and move to Toowoomba," the 70-year-old explained.
Finding his way around the new surrounds has proved another challenge but it hasn't daunted him.
In recent weeks, he has been familiarising himself in his new surrounds with his "trusty guide dog" - a covered fibreglass pole that is his walking stick.
"I've got my trusty guide dog here," he says, tapping the walking stick.
"He lets me down sometimes and walks me into trees and he won't come to me when I put him down.
"When I first lost my sight it wasn't that difficult because I knew where everything was.
"Now I've got to learn everything again."
Apart from his eyes, Mr Ploger remains fit and healthy and hasn't dismissed the possibility of one day regaining his eyesight.
"It's mainly a retina problem and they tell me they're making them now.
"Nothing's impossible. I might look into it."