The win came from a bonus ticket won through purchasing a Powerball ticket. Photo / File
A Wellington woman is now a millionaire thanks to a Bonus Ticket for Lotto First Division.
The $1 million winning Lotto First Division ticket was sold on MyLotto for the draw on Wednesday March 23.
The winner, who has asked to remain anonymous, said she had won the bonus ticket through buying a ticket for Powerball last week.
"While I didn't scoop Powerball, I did win a Bonus Ticket which I thought was pretty good," she said.
"After all, it meant I was in with another chance."
The woman and her partner were at the supermarket last Thursday when they realised their luck.
"As we were leaving the supermarket we stopped by the Lotto counter as I had a couple of tickets from a while back that I'd been carrying around in my purse," said the woman.
"I handed them to the lady at the Lotto counter and while she was checking them, I thought I might as well check my Bonus Ticket at the same time – so flicked open the Lotto NZ app to see if I'd had any luck."
"I was standing at the Lotto counter when I saw I had six numbers circled off on one line of my Bonus Ticket – and then the winning tune played on my phone."
"I stood there staring at my phone thinking, 'surely that's a winner?'"
The woman's partner looked over to see she had a huge smile on her face.
"That's when she showed me her phone and I saw '$1 million winner' on the screen. We were both in shock and had no idea what to do," he said.
The woman said the Lotto lady was "incredibly helpful", noticing they were "a bit rattled".
"She took one look at the screen on my phone and said, 'Congratulations! Let's get you two sorted!', then helped us get the online prize claim form filled in," she said.
The couple headed home and had a special evening, where they planned what they would like to do with their winnings.
"When I woke up the next morning the first thing my partner said to me was, 'how does it feel waking up next to a millionaire, babe?'" said the man.
"I'll be honest, it was a pretty incredible feeling."
The couple is looking forward to using their winnings to buy their first home and set themselves up for the future.
As the year draws to a close, Waikato Herald is taking stock of 2024.