Lucky winners who split a $10.5 million Lotto jackpot over the weekend are looking to get on the property ladder.
An Auckland family and a Tauranga couple claimed their prizes within hours of each other on Sunday, each taking home $5.25 million.
The prize was made up of $5 million from Powerball and $250,000 from Lotto First Division.
The Tauranga couple, who were not regular players, said they were still in “shock” and “can’t believe their luck”.
After Saturday night’s draw, the woman checked their ticket on the MyLotto app, initially thinking they had won Lotto First Division.
“We got all six and I was so excited, I said to my husband we’ve won Lotto First Division.”
After looking again, the couple soon realised they had also matched the correct Powerball number.
“I was in such shock that I just froze, I didn’t know what to say or do!” the woman said.
“We don’t buy tickets regularly, we just picked one up as we were near the dairy, I’d say it’s only the third ticket we’ve ever bought,” the woman said.
They said they had been working hard to set themselves up for the future and that the win was life-changing.
“We don’t own a house, and we’ve been working very hard and studying to create the life we want.”
Their winnings are now safely claimed, and the couple is looking forward to celebrating while planning for the future.
“We’re going to celebrate by throwing a big party for our families,” she said.
The Auckland family discovered they had won while picking up some groceries after a usual Sunday morning breakfast.
“After our breakfast, we went to the mall to pick up a few groceries, and I said to my partner that we should remember to check our ticket while we were there,” the man said.
“We keep them in the sun visor in the car.”
Describing the moment the family discovered they won, the man said: “My partner turned to me with a big grin and said, ‘we should take this to the counter!’
“I still didn’t have a clue what was going on, but I think she did.”
After the operator put their ticket into the machine, the winning music played.
“Then she put up the closed sign… and I still didn’t twig. I thought we’d maybe won $1000, and she might have needed to get authorisation to pay that amount,” the man said.
“The manager came and confirmed that we’d won $5.25 million, and some paperwork would be required.
“It was definitely not what I was expecting so I just said ‘woah, I need to go for a walk’.”
The family said they were “excited” for the future, and plan to buy their first home with the winnings.
