Powerball's latest millionaire spent Saturday night struggling to sleep, her thoughts focused on the winning ticket hidden in a Monty Python DVD case under her pillow.
The Botany woman is $8 million richer after she bought a Lotto ticket for Saturday night's draw as a gift for her friend, then at the last minute decided to grab one for herself as well.
The regular Lotto player, who wants to remain anonymous, was having a quiet Saturday night at home when she discovered the life-changing news.
"There was nothing on TV, so I decided to go to bed early," the winner said.
"I saw my Lotto ticket lying on my bedside table and decided to check it on the Lotto NZ App. I scanned the ticket and it came up 'major winner' and I started getting quite excited."
Initially, the woman thought she might have won about $20,000, which she was "already very excited about".
"Then I went online to read the news and saw a ticket bought at Botany New World had won $8 million. That's when I started to think, 'oh my god, it's real'.
The winner immediately phoned her sons, who came over with a bottle of bubbles and they stayed up till the early hours of the morning celebrating, crying, and talking about what to do next.
It was a sleepless night for the winner while she waited until she could claim her prize.
"I didn't want to let the ticket go," she said.
"First I put it in a little plastic bag so it wouldn't get damaged.
"Then I put it inside a Monty Python's DVD case - winning Lotto feels so surreal, I figured that was the best place for it.
"Then I slept with the DVD case under my pillow - I wasn't letting that ticket out my grasp."
The winner headed into Botany New World as early as possible on Sunday morning to claim her prize.
With the winnings now safely in her bank account, the winner knows exactly what she wants to do first.
"I always used to tell my dad that when I win Lotto, I'm going to take him out for a nice glass of wine - in France.
"After I cashed in my ticket, the first person I phoned was my Dad to tell him the news - that I'd won Lotto and that we're going to France!"
This is the third Powerball winner in the last two months, following a $27 million win by a Thames couple in mid-June and a $10 million win by Tauranga man Lou Te Keeti earlier this month.
