Iconic Puzzle Park South Australia

While it would never compete with Disneyland or Gold Coast theme parks, its rides and other activities were loved by local children for years.

Despite being based near Murray Bridge, Puzzle Park drew large crowds to their varied attractions. But in the early years of the new century disaster struck. The public liability insurance crisis changed our lives in many ways, and adventure parks were just some of the many casualties.

Part of the attraction of Puzzle Park was the high risk rides it offered - think of a massive ninety metre water slide, a flying fox, mechanical giraffe and horse, and Australia's largest maze with overhead walkways.

Children and parents delighted in the range of activities, and the cost of non motorised rides was included in the admission charge.

The park opened in 1985 and operated until 2007, at which time insurance premiums were so excessive as to price the park out of operation. Since then the equipment has lain dormant, the scrub and nature slowly reclaiming what it once lost.

A retirement village had been touted for the site a couple of years ago, but there was no sign of any building work yet. A different generation now explores puzzle park - the urban explorer or urbexer.

It is surprising how much of the original equipment remains. It's not hard to imagine the screams of children as they flew down the giant water slides, the music from the merry go round blaring, and the public address announcements about behaviour in the long empty pool.

The entrance probably looks much as it did while the fun park was at its peak, but that veneer of excitement and colour fades rapidly inside the disused grounds.

The shelter reminiscent of Derek Jolly's Futuro house in North Adelaide will inevitably disappear, leaving only memories with those who still grow older.