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Last night a lucky punter became a millionaire 19 times over after beating one in 30 million odds to win the largest Lotto Powerball prize in New Zealand history.
It's known for dairy farming and botanic gardens, but New Plymouth now has another major claim to fame - it's home to New Zealand's biggest Lotto winner.
The prize was made up of $18,816,031 from Powerball division one and $238,212 - their share of the more than $1.6m Lotto first division prize, which was shared between seven tickets.
The golden ticket was sold by New Plymouth Pak 'n Save, but last night there were few clues as to who the lucky winner might be.
Pak 'n Save owner Peter Melody said he hoped it was "one of our local regular customers", but said it could have gone anywhere, as the city had many visitors this weekend.
"We are ecstatic about it. It's such a large amount of money. If it's a local, hopefully the money stays here.
"It's certainly a lot of money and we hope it goes into the local community somewhere."
Until last night, the largest combined Lotto Powerball prize ever won was $17.9 million, which went to Auckland couple Geoffrey and Helen Henderson, who bought their winning ticket at a Four Square in the small Far North town of Kaeo.
Like Melody, New Plymouth mayor Peter Tennent was also last night celebrating the city's good fortune.
He said New Plymouth had numerous opportunities for investment so the winner would have no difficulty spending their money wisely.
"I'll be checking my ticket for sure. It's fantastic fantastic news," he said.
Last night's draw rekindled memories for the Hendersons whose advice to the lucky winner was to buy something silly for fun - then seek expert advice and sit on your fortune until you've worked out how to spend it. Next, find a good lawyer and accountant, and seek sound, independent financial advice.
When the Henderson's hit the jackpot two years ago, Geoff was 58 and a credit manager at Panasonic. Helen was 59 and a cook in a rest home.
They had little trouble spending their new-found riches.
The couple bought a house in Remuera, a couple of boats, paid off their children's mortgages, and took a cruise travelling first class.
Like the Hendersons, New Plymouth RSA bar manager Sharon Eruti also had some salient advice for the winner - get financial help and not give it all away. "Go live it up because you don't know what will happen tomorrow," she said.
Last night the RSA was abuzz with news of the win, but no one had any clues as to who the lucky punter may have been.
It is believed an extra 500,000 tickets were sold this week.
