$5.3m Lotto winner: 'I just started crying'

A $5.3 million Northland Lotto and Powerball winner has big plans for the future.

A Northland couple who won $5.3 million on Lotto and Powerball have spoken about their plans for their win after the man cried when first told he had won.

The couple, who wish to remain anonymous, won the money - $5 million on Powerball First Division and $333,333 on Lotto First Division - at Woody's Winners in Wellsford on December 22.

The winner has spoken about the couple's plans for a very happy Christmas/New Year and exciting future.

The winner said he had no idea his life was about to change when he went into the Lotto store on Friday to check his ticket. After putting it through the machine, the woman behind the counter asked him to come into the back room.

"My first thought was 'what have I done wrong?' I've never been asked into the back room before," he said.

"Once she told me what had happened - that I'd won $5.3 million, I just started crying and I was shaking so much I had to sit down. They were just so lovely in the store though, they got me a cup of coffee and helped me fill in the paperwork and generally made sure I was OK."

Once the winner had regained his composure, the next stop was to head home and tell his wife.

"I was doing some gardening when he drove up and he said to me 'you better come up to the house', so I knew something was up," she said.

"When I got into the house, he was pouring us a drink. I just looked at him and said 'you haven't won Lotto, have you?' because I knew he was down the store checking our ticket.
"He had happy tears running down his face and he gave me a big hug and said 'yip, we did it'."

The couple can't believe their good fortune and are looking forward to sharing the news with close family.

"We want to buy a car or a boat, and a house, and we want to go on holiday. Our minds are just whirring - so we're going to put it in the bank for the time being and not make any big decisions until next year," he said.

"To be honest, we're just a couple of hard workers who have hit the gold mine and we just can't believe our good luck."

Meanwhile, a $200,000 Lotto First Division winner on Saturday sold at Kaikohe Four Square has continued Northland's amazing Lotto winning run.

And on Wednesday a ticket sold at Awanui Junction Dairy won $26,404 on Lotto Second Division. It's the latest in an incredible run of success for the region, which has now had 32 major prizes won since August 20 worth an amazing $14.6m in first and second division prizes.