Million dollar Lotto winner thanks mum

That's the ticket. A Feilding woman has pocketed a million bucks, thanks to a hunch from her mother. Photo: File

A Feilding woman is New Zealand's latest millionaire thanks to an intuitive feeling from her mother.

The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, won First Division in last week's Lotto, taking home $1 million.

She was oblivious to the massive windfall until her parents visited on Sunday afternoon.

"Mum just had a feeling that someone in our family might have won the $1 million, so she stopped by with Dad on Sunday to see whether we had checked our tickets," the eleated winner said.

"I didn't have a clue that someone had won, so I went and grabbed my tickets so we could check them together. Somehow Dad remembered what all the winning numbers were and just listed them off - and that's when I saw them all lining up on the top line of my ticket."

She grabbed her phone and checked the winning ticket through the Lotto NZ ticket-checker App.

"It whirled and spinned, then the winning music played and 'major prize winner' appeared on the screen. I couldn't believe it, so I just jumped straight in the car and rushed down to the Lotto shop to make sure it was real," she said.

"When the lady at the shop told me I was the $1 million winner I just couldn't believe it. My mind was racing and my hands were shaking - I couldn't stop thinking, 'is this real? Is it a dream?'"

With the winnings now safely in her bank account, the reality of her good fortune is beginning to sink in and the winner is faced with the enviable task of deciding what to do with her $1 million prize.

"My partner and I keep throwing ideas around, but we haven't decided on anything just yet. All we know is that it's taken the pressure off a bit, which is the most amazing feeling," the winner said.

The winning ticket was sold at Feilding Video Centre for the Lotto draw on Saturday 8 October.

The Feilding winners are the 30th Kiwis to become overnight Lotto millionaires this year.