“We were lying in bed about to go to sleep when my partner checked the ticket online around 11.
“He got up suddenly, and I thought something was wrong because he was bent over. I asked him if everything was okay and he replied, ‘We just won’.
“I didn’t believe him. I said, ‘Whatever!’ but then he showed me his screen, and there it was – ‘Major Prize Winner.’
“I was shocked,” she said.
“There were so many emotions going through my head.”
The couple struggled to sleep that night but “celebrated quietly with the kids at home” the next day.
“We’re still taking it in,” she said.
“It’s come at a great time for us. It’s important for us to take our time to think about our options – but our ultimate goal is to set up our kids for the future.”
In the meantime, the couple was keen to “live life as normal”.
“We’re still going to work and everything.”
The winning Lotto First Division ticket was sold on MyLotto for the draw on July 19 and was not immediately claimed.
A winning $500,000 Lotto First Division ticket was also sold on MyLotto to a player from Auckland for the same draw.
This is the second time in less than four months that a Rotorua Lotto player has won $500,000.
On April 2, two people from Rotorua and Hastings each won $500,000 with Strike Four Must Be Won tickets.
Top five luckiest Bay of Plenty Lotto stores
Based on total prize of First Division won between June 2022 and June 2023
Halfway Store, Whakatāne
Total number of wins: 1
Total win value: $12,250,000
Largest prize won: $12,000,000
Paper Plus Rotorua Central
Total number of wins: 2
Total win value: $1,400,000
Largest prize won: $1,000,000
Bayfair Lotto, Mount Maunganui
Total number of wins: 2
Total win value: $550,000
Largest prize won: $350,000
Western Heights Foodmarket, Rotorua
Total number of wins: 1
Total win value: $500,000
Largest prize won: $500,000
Ngongotaha Books Lotto and Postshop, Rotorua
Total number of wins: 1
Total win value: $10,000
Largest prize won: $10,000
Pak’nSave Cameron Rd, Tauranga
Total number of wins: 1
Total win value: $10,000
Largest prize won: $10,000
Source: Lotto NZ
