Hawke’s Bay couple retiring early on $7.18m powerball win

The Hawke's Bay couple claimed their $7 million prize at the busy Hastings New World. Photo / Warren Buckland

The winners of a $7.18 million Powerball prize returned to the busy store they bought their ticket from to claim the prize.

A couple from Hawke’s Bay were “stunned mullets” when they found out they were one of the seven big winners of Lotto NZ’s $50 million Must Be Won draw earlier this month.

The couple, who wish to remain anonymous, picked up a ticket from New World Hastings while on a shopping trip to town.

“We needed a few things from town, and I told my husband we should get a ticket for the big draw while we were there,” the woman said.

“It was the day of the draw so there was a long queue for the Lotto counter. Once I got our ticket, I gave it to my husband who tucked it away in his wallet like he usually does.”

The next day, the man checked their ticket on the MyLotto App, which said they were a ‘major prize winner.’

Assuming they had won something small, the woman left her husband to it.

“My husband checked the results and said, ‘Hey I think we might’ve won $71,000.’ I was shocked and thought it was an amazing amount to win.”

But it wasn’t long before he realized their prize could be much larger.

“Actually… I think it could be $7 million, you know!” he said.

The woman was sceptical.

“I told him to ‘hold his horses,’ I thought there must be something we weren’t understanding, so I didn’t want to get ahead of ourselves. I said the only way we would know for sure was to go to the shop and check it,” the woman said.

So off she went back to New World Hastings. Handing the ticket to the Lotto operator, the woman didn’t mention it was potentially a big winner.

The winning tune played, and the operator swiftly and discreetly turned the customer display around so no one could see it.

The woman was taken into the office where the good news was confirmed – they had won $7.18 million.

“They were excited to tell me I was one of the seven winners of $7 million and well… I was a bit like a stunned mullet.”

The woman called her husband to share the news with him.

“When I told him I think we both just felt more relieved it was true than anything,” the woman said.

Celebrating with a glass of wine later that evening, the couple discussed their future.

“We’ve often spoken about what we would do if we won Powerball – and here we were doing that for real!” she said.

“This win is going to be life-changing for us. It means we can retire sooner than we thought, and best of all, it means Nanna and Poppa can spend lots more time with the grandkids.”

Two prizes from the $50m jackpot remain unclaimed.