$18 million Lotto Powerball win still unclaimed

Saturday night's $18 million Powerball prize is still to be claimed.

The winner of the $18 million Powerball jackpot is yet to claim their prize more than 36 hours later.

The winning ticket was sold at the Four Square at Gulf Harbour on the Whangaparoa Peninsula in Auckland.

A spokesperson for Lotto New Zealand told the Herald the $18.2m jackpot was still unclaimed at 9.30am.

"We still haven't heard from the lucky winner, but we're looking forward to it."

Lotto would notify the public when the prize had been claimed.

Meanwhile, the Hibiscus Coast community is abuzz with the news the lucky person could be among them.

The shop owner of the Four Square at Gulf Harbour yesterday said people were coming in and asking who it could be while a post about the Powerball jackpot in the community Facebook page are attracting close to 100 comments.

Auckland councillor Wayne Walker, who lives at Manly on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula, said the winner was most probably a local, saying most people who shop at Gulf Harbour are locals.

It could have been someone who visited the Shakespear Regional Park at the end of the peninsula or a boat owner from outside the area, but Walker did not think that was likely.

"I've got two or three Lotto tickets stashed away. I must go and check on them," said Walker, who did not buy a ticket at the Four Square this week.

The ticket was one of five to share first division's million dollars, but unlike the other four it also had the lucky Powerball number 5 for the $18m jackpot.

The other First Division $200,000 were bought from Paper Plus Taupo, Pak N Save Kilbirnie in Wellington, Pak N Save Riccarton in Christchurch, and on MyLotto by a player from Auckland.

The biggest winners in Lotto's powerball history were a couple from Hibiscus Coast on the northern outskirts of Auckland who won $44m after buying a ticket from the Dairy Flat Foodmart in November 2016. They have remained anonymous.

The next biggest winners are a West Auckland man who won $33m in 2013, followed by a syndicate of 10 women, all dental professionals, who won $30m after buying a ticket in Taupō in 2017.