Kaeo still guessing who $18m Lotto winnner is

Some Kaeo folk reckon the $18 million Lotto winners should throw a party. Others reckon they should stay in hiding, while others are just hoping for a shout at the local pub.

Four days after it was revealed that Saturday's winning $18 million Lotto ticket was sold at Kaeo, the winners continue to lie low.

Though some locals will know who the lucky punters are, speculation remains rife for the majority.

"The rumour mill is going mental," a Whangaroa woman said yesterday.

Co-owner of the store that sold the winning ticket, Vipin Chand from Kaeo Four Square, had yesterday still not heard from the new multi-millionaire. However, he believed it was a local.

Olwyn Snell of the Kaeo bookshop said it was "nice to be on the TV and in the papers for something positive".

Another local, Lewis, believed the winners would surface soon.

"We will probably find out at the next party. That's when people start talking."

Gary Sanderson, the owner of Totara North's watering hole, the Gum Store Bar and Grill, said: "We probably won't find out until we see them driving around in a flash car. There's a lot of speculation and a lot of guessing. They are probably scared, they are going to have 1000 mates instead of just a few."

A Whangaroa woman reckoned it was someone from the wider area in their 20s.

Others were pointing the finger at Matauri Bay but a visit yielded nothing. "I heard the winner was from Kaeo," one resident said.

Meanwhile, the money has been paid into the winner's bank account.

The "stunned and surprised" family told a Lotto spokesman they had a large supportive family and planned some fun family times ahead, while supporting charities close to their heart.

- NORTHERN ADVOCATE (WHANGAREI)