Shocked couple claim $22m Powerball prize

A shocked Auckland couple turned up at New Zealand Lotteries' offices in Wellington today to claim their $22.4 million Powerball prize.

The couple, who wish to remain anonymous, bought their winning ticket at Manukau Pak N Save on Saturday.

The couple then heard on the radio at 7am the next day that the big prize had been won from Manukau.

"I thought `oh my God'," the husband said today

"But we did not actually check the ticket until the afternoon. We must have read those numbers 999 times before we believed that we were the big winners. It takes a while to sink in."

The man then kept the $22.4 million winning ticket in his glove box for two days, before transferring it to his wallet to make the trip to Wellington.

The couple plan to both keep working in the meantime, before sorting out their future plans.

However, they plan to make some donations to charities and help out family.

One of the first causes they plan to support is disaster relief in Samoa.

"Like all New Zealanders we have been really upset watching what has happened in the Pacific, and we really want to help out there first," they said.

- NZPA