The flying trapeze has challenged many children and adults at Action World. Photo / supplied
They've led glittering lives as high-flying trapeze artists and brought a world of action to the Bay of Islands.
Now Freddy and Carol Osler, who established Action World in Paihia 15 years ago, are getting ready to hang up their circus paraphernalia and retire.
After the Easter school holidays the myriad of inflatable adventure activities that have enthralled, entertained and challenged children and the occasional adult will be deflated and dismantled for the last time.
Then the gates to the fun park on Puketona Rd, home to the world's highest inflatable slide, will be permanently closed.
"I'm here every day for the last 15 years, and I'm exhausted," Carol said.
"We need a change and quite frankly we're too old for it. We're both heading for our 70s.
"But we'll surely miss the delighted screams of the kids.
"After 15 years you meet thousands of people from all over; you constantly catch up with locals and their children and grandchildren.
"It's a very rewarding social type of job. Even though there's a few naughty kids I'll miss them all because the vast majority are quite fabulous."
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On the day the Northern Advocate visited, the jousting bridge, climbing wall and extreme slide lay flattened and sprawled out across the park while miniature ponies Patches and Oscar grazed nearby.
Only the 7m high flying trapeze was inflated; one of the more daring activities which Freddy reckons "scares the grown-ups more than the kids."
There's also the high wire, Tarzan swings, trampoline, a mini golf course and 30m water slide, along with the infamous 15m extreme slide which starts vertically before catapulting its occupants off a ramp at high speed.
It's all fun and games – albeit high maintenance ones - for the Oslers who are former world champions on the flying trapeze.
Closing the park is not a decision they've made lightly.
But after years of working flat out apart from a short break each winter, and with the ongoing maintenance work required to keep the property and activities safe - they're done.
"We would have loved to see the business carry on into the future, but we have reached a point in our lives where we feel a change is needed," Carol said.
"There's too much experience that goes with this, it's not something you can pass onto someone else."
Carol and Freddy have led action packed, glamorous lives, realising every child's dream of running off to join the circus.
Both were born in South Africa and trained separately in the art of flying trapeze.
Freddy's career started at the age of 16 while Carol started at 17, initially as a hobby while working as a student teacher.
When an English circus company contacted her in need of a female flyer she agreed.
"I thought it would be for a short time and would return to my studies, but I was instantly hooked on the lifestyle," she said.
The pair met in Paris in 1975 when their flying trapeze acts were both engaged to perform at the same show.
They travelled the world as the Flying Oslers, performing in circus shows and galas and appearing on TV shows.
They performed at five Royal Command Performances in England, Spain, Sweden and Monaco and in 1978 won the Circus World Championships in London followed by the Circus Olympics in Madrid.
"We got paid to keep fit and see the world," Freddy said.
"We've had an incredible life, we've been very lucky," Carol added.
But you don't perform at great heights without a few injuries, and Freddy - who was known for his daring triple somersaults – broke nine bones on separate occasions during his career.
Carol remembers her biggest accident, ripping every ligament in her leg during a fall in Israel.
However, it was an accident in Perth in 1979, where Freddy dislocated his shoulder, that ended the duo's career once and for all.
For the first time in their adult lives they settled in one spot and began producing circus shows.
They worked at the "phenomenally successful" Atlantis Marine Park in Perth for several years, where Freddy was the production manager, creating the shows with their storylines, music and costumes.
When the urge to travel resurfaced, the Oslers journeyed to South East Asia and Australia and produced shows for the Weber Bros Circus, which came to New Zealand.
Carol had such a good feeling about Paihia, the couple bought some land and decided to stay.
"I'd had enough of the circus and travelling," she said.
"We had bought the land but didn't know what to do with it.
"I parked at the neighbours with my caravan and two dogs and thought 'we could make this work.
"I walked through town with my clipboard and asked people what does the town need? Everyone said there's nothing for our children. That's how it evolved."
With their experience on the flying trapeze, Freddy and Carol wanted to create a safer landing than the so-called "safety net".
Freddy began to develop an inflatable landing system which became the basis of their high-flying activities at the Paihia park.
The land was cleared, the flying trapeze and trampoline were installed, and a mini golf course was set up.
"We instantly realised that there needed to be more stuff for the kids to be occupied before the trapeze," Carol said.
"That's how the smaller trapeze started; they needed the monkey bars to warm up on.
"It grew from there. Every season we had at least one new attraction. It became very popular and a 'must-do' for everyone that had kids."
The Oslers kept the prices affordable for locals and quickly established a fan base.
Te Tai Tokerau MP Kelvin Davis remembers attending the park when he was principal at Kaitaia Intermediate from 2001 to 2007.
His school was one of the first to visit, and teachers took students there regularly.
The kids thoroughly enjoyed it, he said, and the park added more colour and vibrancy to the Bay of Islands.
"It's great they established it and quite sad now they're closing down, but while they were operating it was good for the community and the Bay of Islands," Davis said.
"It challenged the kids and tested them and got them outside doing physical stuff. It gave them something extra to do and I think the adults enjoyed it too."
Last year Carol and Freddy became New Zealand citizens.
They're looking forward to their retirement; Freddy plans to play more golf and Carol will volunteer at Paihia School.
The couple are self-confessed "animal fanatics" who often rescue birds – they recently saved a baby kingfisher – and they plan to get more involved with animal rescue.
They are donating the trapeze, high wire and monkey bars to Matakana Country Park which hosts a family-friendly activities including an adventure playground near Warkworth.
The smaller attractions, picnic tables, trampoline and toys have been donated to numerous schools and kindergartens around Northland.
Paihia School principal Jane Lindsay said her students always looked forward to their annual trips to the park.
"It was an opportunity for students to experience things that wouldn't normally, and they always thoroughly enjoyed it," she said.
"It's a loss to the community, but we should all be grateful it was there for the time it was."
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