'I've got the lot!' - Whangarei Lotto player in disbelief after winning $5.5m

Sunnyside Foodmarket owners Ketan and Sejal Patel sold the winning $5.5m Lotto ticket. Photo / John Stone

"I've got the lot!"

This is what a Whangarei man shouted when he realised the Lotto ticket he'd bought had won him $5.5 million.

The winner, who did not want to be named, was oblivious to the fact the winning Lotto Powerball First Division had been sold in Whangarei, let alone at the shop he had got his ticket from - so he was in no hurry to check.

"I'd just gotten home from work and had a few minutes to spare, so thought I might as well check my ticket. I went online and got the results, then started checking them off on my ticket."

It didn't take the married Whangarei man long to see the winning numbers line up on his ticket.

"[I was in] disbelief. I shouted 'I've got the lot!' then ran and got my wife to make sure I hadn't stuffed something up. She was as shocked as I was, we both just stood looking at the winning ticket absolutely stunned. Not a lot was said to be honest," he said.

The ticket had been sold at the Sunnyside Foodmarket on Station Rd. Owner Ketan Patel told the Advocate on Thursday that it was mainly regular locals who stopped at the store but the winner of the $5.5m said he did not usually stop at the Kamo shop.

"I usually pick up my ticket from a store near my house, but for some reason I stopped at Sunnyside Foodmarket on my way home from work and bought my ticket there this time. It certainly paid off," he said.

The man said he was a regular Lotto player and had won small amounts here and there but "nothing like this".

"We feel very lucky. We don't want to rush into anything, so are planning on investing most of it for a year or so. But it's definitely going to make life a bit easier," he said.

"I'll be retiring early now, that's for sure. Other than that, we'll be able to pay off the mortgage and help the kids out. We might even go on a holiday next year, which we haven't done in quite a while."