Richard Wybrow was simply being the dutiful husband and then, in a slight detour, something wonderful happened.

It began as he started his search for a stationary bike on craigslist.com. His wife, Amy, wanted one and friends had suggested the Web site.

Photos by Kawarau Bungy Centre (ENLARGE)

Richard Wybrow and daughter Chyanna catch their breath at a bungee jump site.

(ENLARGE)

Richard Wybrow's wife, Amy, takes a leap at a New Zealand bungee-jumping facility.

Among the postings was one for television writers — or so Wybrow thought. For 18 years, the CNN Radio editor had fancied himself a writer. To his credit, he'd written a string of unpublished novels and unproduced screenplays.

But instead of a search for writers, Wybrow discovered that the ad really was seeking people with a passion for travel, people willing to be on a new television show.

At 37, Wybrow had traveled extensively but he'd never been to the place of his father's birth, New Zealand. When he and Amy married, she already had two boys and between the two of them, they had mounds of debt.

"We were always playing catch up," he said.

Now this question stared him in the face: If you had the chance to go anywhere in your lifetime, where would it be?

Wybrow answered "New Zealand," filled out the questionnaire and wrote an essay about why he wanted to travel there with their daughter, Chyanna. He wanted to learn more about his tribal ancestry. He didn't want his daughter growing up like him, not knowing part of her history.

Wybrow is descended from the Ngai Tahu tribe. His great-great grandfather, James Wybrow, was a Caucasian whaler who found himself in New Zealand and married a Maori tribal chief's daughter.

Today, the Maori make up more than 14 percent of New Zealand's population. Their language and culture impacts all facets of life there.

Wybrow clicked the send button and forgot about it.

That was in early October. About two weeks later, a woman named Holly called from the Travel Channel. She liked Wybrow's essay and asked: Could he send her a videotape of the family?

On Nov. 1, Wybrow, Chyanna and Amy headed for New Zealand and the "Trip of a Lifetime."

The Acworth family was among 10 chosen from across the country to experience the ultimate vacation. First-class seats. Top-flight accommodations. And personal tour guides, all compliments of the Travel Channel.

It wasn't until the captain turned off the seat belt light, Wybrow said, that he knew it was really happening.

"It wasn't just going to New Zealand,'' Amy said, "it was going like rock stars."

With a camera crew in tow, the family spent 10 days traveling the countryside from the Bay of Islands to Kaikoura to Auckland, where the Wybrow ancestors live.

"Richard traced his ancestry back 900 years," said Amy. "It helped us connect with who the Maoris were and who he is."

From the moment their flight landed, they were treated to that culture as the natives greeted them with singing and haka, an ancient Maori dance. They swam with the dolphins. They bungee jumped. They stayed at the Kauri Cliffs, a $7,000-a-night retreat that included their own private chef.

"The only thing we had to spring for was McDonald's," Richard Wybrow said.

While her mother and father indulged in the nightlife, Chye (pronounced shy) got to know her New Zealand relatives.

"It was cool," she said.

Highlights from the trip will air at 10 p.m. Thursday on the Travel Channel's new series "Trip of a Lifetime."

But was it the trip of a lifetime?

"It was," said Richard, his wife and daughter nodding their heads in agreement. "It was like we were kids. We just showed up and played."

Asked if he ever found the stationary bike his wife wanted, he said, "No."

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