The couple, who wish to remain anonymous, had heard someone in Dunedin had won a $5.5 million share of the top prize a week earlier.
However, they had no idea it was them because they initially thought they had bought their ticket for the Saturday March 15 draw from a different store.
"I said to my partner, ‘ahh someone’s won, but it’s not us because we didn’t get our ticket from there this week,’ – for some reason I was sure I’d bought it from a different shop," said the woman.
Almost a week later, she went to pick up a few groceries after work and decided to check their ticket.
"I scanned it under ticket checker, and it said Division One Winner, so I said, ‘oh that could be interesting,’ and handed it over to the Lotto operator."
"She scanned it for me, and I asked how much I’d won – she just looked at me and said, ‘it’s a big one,’ and turned the ticket to show me the amount.
"I was really shocked – I couldn’t believe it!"
The woman then headed home to share the news with her partner.
"He gave me a hug and asked how my day was like he normally does, and I said ‘well… we won some money on Lotto,’ and showed him the little slip of paper with the amount on it."
Now it was the man’s turn to be shocked.
"He didn’t believe it, and for the last few days we’ve spent a lot of time saying, ‘is it really real?’
"It feels like we’ve been kind of floating around in a bubble of unreality," she said.
After an extra special long weekend of celebrating and long walks talking about their future, the couple are still figuring out what they’d like to do.
"The first thing we both said is we want to help our family – but we haven’t decided what else we’d like to do.
"A lovely holiday somewhere warm will be on the cards at some point though," said the woman.
A week on from that big Dunedin win, a Powerball First Division win of $5.3 million went to another ticket purchaser close by, and this winner is yet to claim their prize.
"What a week it’s been for Otago. Two winners in the region are both now more than $5 million richer, which is fantastic," says Will Hine, Lotto NZ Head of Corporate Communications.
"If you bought your ticket from Windsor On the Spot Express in Port Chalmers for the Saturday 22 March draw, we recommend checking your ticket as soon as possible."
Players can phone Lotto NZ on 0800 695 6886 if they want to enquire about the best way to claim a prize.
