The winner of last night's record Lotto draw is keeping a low profile this morning.
Lotto spokeswoman Emilia Mazur said the person who bought the ticket was yet to come forward.
"They're still on the loose," said Mazur.
The life-changing $44 million lottery was won by a single ticket.
But rather than being purchased from a busy inner-city store the lucky shop is a humble corner store on Auckland's North Shore surrounded by paddocks.
Dairy Flat Foodmart and Liquor owner Nishchal Pandya said he was so excited when he found out about his shop's first big win and hopes a local is the lucky winner of the $44 million jackpot.
"I didn't have any words. I was very excited. I can't think what I should do.
"I hope it's someone from our community."
He has already bought a bottle of Champagne, ready to celebrate when the big winner comes forward.
Yesterday passed in a blur as Pandya sold about 2000 tickets yesterday, twice the amount of Lotto tickets he usually sells in a week.
Patel joked that the store is always lucky.
"Because we have good customers like you."
Lotto players who have already checked their tickets stomped into the store to announce "it wasn't me".
A North Shore Aerodrome member, who didn't want to be named, said everyone was talking about the "lucky bugger" when they came into work. But since none of them won they stopped talking about it pretty quick.
"Unfortunately none of us won."
Based on an interest rate of 4 per cent, the lucky winner would stand to pocket around $33,800 a week in interest alone if they did not touch their full winnings.
Despite the big Powerball win, Dairy Flat locals are taking the day in their stride, eating pies, filling up with gas and buying a newspaper, like they do every morning.
Local activities coordinator Nikki Odlin was getting her tickets checked at the store this morning and shared a few stories of lucky winners from her days selling Lotto.
A homeless woman won $800,000 when Odlin was working at Paperplus Whangaparaoa 12 years ago. She said the woman shuffled in with ragged clothes and bare feet before finding out she'd won the big prize.
"She cried because she was so happy. She had nothing.
"I think she was in shock."
The next day the woman returned to the shop with flowers and chocolate for Odlin. Then she never saw her again.
"Hopefully she did really well for herself."
In another rags to ritches story Odlin said a solo mother went to Glenfield Mall with her last few dollars. She had a choice to buy shoes for her child or a Lotto ticket. She went with the gamble and won more than $100,000.
Store employee Sujal Patel said the Foodmart had printed a ticket that won around $230,000 in Lotto's Bullseye last year.
He agrees with his boss that it would be nice for the winner to be a local.
"Everyone works too hard here so they deserve it."
Silverdale firefighter Becky Wood is jealous of the winner but hopes the prize has gone to a good person.
"I hope it goes to someone who hasn't had much money before. Maybe someone older.
"I'm hoping they'll share it around."
Te Atatu man Aniseto Iole was waiting outside for the store to open this morning.
He went to buy two tickets yesterday but the store accidentally printed out four. He decided to only take two but was gutted when he discovered the store won last night.
"I couldn't go back to sleep after that."
Local man Nui buys his lotto ticket twice a week from the Dairy Flat Food Mart and Liquor shop, which sold the winning ticket, except this week when he bought it from Silverdale. He's kicking himself.
"Life's a small, stupid world. Just when the chance is right you ruin it."
But he only has good wishes for the winner. His advice to them is to have a good long think about what to do with the money first.
"I hope they put it to their mind first before blowing it."
Had Nui won, he would have bought an island for the homeless to live on and donated the rest to a leukaemia trust, in honour of his mother, who died of the disease.
Eyes are on the North Shore shop to see if it will be claimed in store or whether the country's overnight multi-millionaires were headed to Lotto's Wellington headquarters to bag the mindblowing winnings.
Jason Morse has bought his ticket at the Dairy Flat store for three years, except for this week when he bought it in Pokeno on his way from a family funeral.
But he is not disappointed, he is happy for whoever has won.
Meanwhile, Central Otago man Karl Barkley has an innovative proposal for the Lotto winner - buying the historic Kingston Flyer Railway at Queenstown.
Disappointed that he didn't wake up $44 million richer, he's suggested the winner buy the Flyer so a charitable trust can be set up.
"The trust would then get the money required to restore the two Ab class steam locomotive and seven historic wooden carriages and once we got it running again and making a profit then we could give the winners back their kind donation if need be, so they could put it into another worthy cause."
Fourteen first division winners bagged $66,667.00. Three were from Auckland City, and one each from Mt Wellington, Pt England, Canterbury, Wairoa, Napier, Orakei, Mangere, St Heliers, Masterton, Christchurch and Te Awamutu.
The winning numbers for last night's record-breaking $44 million Lotto Powerball draw were 3, 21, 22, 1, 30, 29 and the bonus number was 5.
The winning powerball number was 6.
The winning stores
Eastridge Lotto - Auckland
Mangere Stationery and Post - Auckland
Maskell Lotto and Convenience - Auckland
MyLotto (x3) - Auckland
Paper Plus Sylvia Park - Auckland
Riverside Dairy - Auckland
Paper Plus Te Awamutu - Te Awamutu
Z Wairoa - Wairoa
Napier Food Mart - Napier
Paper Plus Masterton - Masterton
Countdown New Brighton - Christchurch
MyLotto - Canterbury
This morning up-tempo music played in the background of the Wairoa petrol station as workers celebrated selling a first division prize in the enormous jackpot.
"It's very exciting in here today. The buzz and hype is alive," said Z Wairoa spokesman Matt Te Kahu.
"I've only just walked into work and customers are already asking questions about it."
He said when he found out last night the new Wairoa outlet had sold the ticket he couldn't stop thinking about it.
"I definitely lost sleep because of it."
Although there was the possibility a passing motorist could have purchased the ticket he hoped it was a local.
"We're only a small town so someone is going to be really excited or really humble about it."
He was now quickly trying to find balloons and signs to celebrate striking division one just two months after becoming a lotto outlet.
Riverside Dairy employee Mahesh Maisuria said he had not been told one of the store's customers had won a share of division one and no customers had been in to check their tickets yet.
He said the news was "very good" and staff would be celebrating at the store today.
It was the first big win from the dairy, but second division winning tickets had been bought there before, Maisuria said.
He hoped the person who won would come claim their prize instore today.
The shop that sold the winning $44 million Powerball ticket was closed last night but there was still excitement in the air in Dairy Flat.
Punters had pulled into the Caltex next door, and one man bemoaned his lost chance at snaring the golden ticket.
He told the Herald he was supposed to buy his ticket from Dairy Flat Food Mart as he usually does, after filling up yesterday afternoon.
He drove off without buying one, and was "gutted" at missing out on a chance at winning the largest draw in Lotto history.
Top five lottery prizes won in New Zealand:
1. $36.8 million, June 2009, Kuripuni Lotto and Post Shop Masterton, Big Wednesday
2. $33 million, September 2013, One Step Ahead, Ponsonby, Auckland, Powerball
3. $28.7 million, October 2010, Mobil Papakura, Auckland, Powerball
4. $27 million, October 2010, AJ's Lotto, Tauranga, Big Wednesday
5. $26.5 million, March 2012, Te Kauwhata Four Square, Powerball
Lotto yesterday expected more than two million tickets to sell for the must-me-won Powerball draw.
And judging by some of the queues seen around New Zealand, that could well have been right.
The jackpot is the biggest in Lotto history, more than July's $40 million Powerball draw attracted record sales, when more than 2.7m tickets entered into the draw.
Last Saturday's $38 million Powerball draw saw the sale of 1.85 million Lotto tickets.
At Rotorua's Lucky Lottery Shop, the lunchtime line went out the door, and in Tauranga's Bayfair Lotto store, people queued since 8.50am.
Lotto NZ's spokesperson, Kirsten Robinson said the expected ticket sales for the country's biggest Powerball draw ever are three times more than those for a lower jackpot level.
At Pak n' Save Manukau yesterday, Lotto presenter Sonia Gray manned the tills, saying selling tickets was harder than her day job.
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