Retirement is on the cards for a man from the Coromandel Peninsula who won a $4.5 million Lotto jackpot earlier this month.
The husband and wife winners, who wanted to remain anonymous, play Lotto regularly – buying a triple dip ticket.
The man said he was spurred to buy a ticket while at Paper Power in Thames, after seeing six first-division trophies on the shelf.
“I asked the woman if they were genuine, and she said they were and that they had sold a few first division tickets over the years," he said.
“So I said, ‘Well you’d better give me a ticket then’.”
He checked the ticket at a diffrent store a few days later, when the words "major prize" came up, not knowing how much the ticket was worth – shocking the store worker.
“I didn’t know there had been a big win in Thames – so I thought it might be a grand or two.
“She looked shocked when she scanned it, and said ‘wow, we’ve never had one that big here before'.”
The ticket, from the June 6 draw, was made up of $4 million from Powerball first division, and $500,000 from Lotto first division.
The man drove home to tell his wife, who was in "total shock" at the news.
"It took me a while to figure out how many zeroes there were," she said. “It’s mind-blowing, and it really is life-changing for us."
They said they struggled to sleep that night, despite being "pretty good" sleepers.
"I must have woken up every 15 minutes that night," the man said.
“I kept picking up the paperwork and telling myself I can feel it in my hands, so it has to be real."
The couple was still coming to terms with the win, and said their future looked very different.
“There’s been a bit of a running joke about when I’ll retire, and honestly, I didn’t think it would ever happen – but this win means I can. It’s huge for us," the man said.
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