A $ 12 million winner of the Lotto Powerball Express, bought "lamb and salad"

The $ 12 million Saturday night Lotto Powerball ticket winner advanced to claim his prize, buying the ticket on a weekend for his birthday.

Wishing to remain anonymous, the winner was on vacation in Wanaka to celebrate his birthday "

" We just wanted a quiet night to celebrate my birthday with our friends, so I went to the New World to buy something special for dinner – a lamb and a "On leaving the car, we saw the waiting line at the Lotto counter and we decided to take a ticket, but there was a little bit of Waiting. "

" He was getting impatient and wanted to go home, but I did not want to leave him, "laughs the winner's wife." After all, what is it? that's still a few minutes ago? "

The winner only became aware of the winning numbers that came after the online announcement that the winning ticket had been purchased in the Wanaka New World.

"When I saw that the winning ticket had been sold in the same store where we had bought our ticket, I knew I had to check it." 19659002 "I picked up the winning numbers on MyLotto and checked "They went – and they were there, all in line on the F line," said the winner. "19659002" "He called by chance -" Come here, I think we won the lottery "I thought we might have won about $ 20, there was nothing in his voice that let guess how much the price was big, "said the wife of the winner

after checking the ticket and realized how much they had won. The couple ponders how they could keep the ticket safe

When they returned to Auckland on Sunday morning, they did not want to misplace the little piece of paper during their travels.

"We wanted something that was decent size, so we could see at a glance that it was still safely hidden.My friend went through the house and found a old box inside a closet, so we hid the ticket inside.

"We did some shopping on Monday, so we ticked them off I just left the box with the ticket inside hidden under the front seat of the car, "said the winner.

The pair said that they had not told their children their earnings and "

" We have not even talked to children yet, so that's the next big thing to do – it will be a memorable moment, that's for sure!

"As for what we will do, we really want to help people – this victory will go much further than our immediate family. "" We both love to travel and do port, so maybe the family will travel to Japan for the Rugby World Cup next year – or even the Olympics, "said the winner.

This Powerball win is the seventh time that

It is the second prize of the Powerball First Division won in the South Island in 2018 after a Powerball win of 20.2 million. dollars to Christchurch in February.

This win is the biggest win ever won in Central Otago and the ninth highest prize ever won in the South Island.