Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly
An Auckland family are still in shock after winning Lotto NZ's largest ever prize of $44.67 million last weekend.
On Saturday night it looked as though the win was first equal with the $44.06 million claimed in 2016.
However, it emerged the family had taken out the top spot by playing 10 lines of the same numbers, each with a different Powerball number.
It meant in addition to winning $44m with Powerball, they also won 10 shares of Lotto first division - a total of $666,670.
The family, who wish to remain anonymous, have been playing since Lotto began in 1987, and have been using a combination of special numbers on their ticket for the last few years.
After watching Saturday night's draw, the woman texted her daughter telling her one person had won the jackpot.
"Then when I was looking at the numbers I thought 'Do you know, I think I might have a few of these'," she said.
"I texted my daughter again to say I thought we had won something, and the more I looked at the numbers, the more familiar they looked.
"I'd forgotten my password for my MyLotto account so I had to reset it before I could check."
Once she logged in, the virtual draw played, and her numbers circled one by one until her entire ticket turned blue, and the winning music playing.
"I was in complete shock. I said to myself 'I don't believe it!' You never think it's going to happen to you, so it's hard to get your head around.
"I told my daughter, and then I called my son to tell him.
"He didn't believe me, so I had to send them both a screenshot to prove it.
"We all jumped on a group video call, and we just kept saying 'no way, it can't be real, we don't believe it.'"
The next day, the family met up and went out for dinner to celebrate.
"It was surreal, we could hear people in the restaurant talking about the $44 million prize, and I can remember saying in a hushed voice 'If only they knew'," the son said.
The family will take some time to let the magnitude of their win sink in before making any major decisions, but have a few ideas.
"We're a hard-working family but my children owning their own homes has always been just out of reach, so first of all, I'd like to get them into homes of their own, which will be really special," the woman said.
A family holiday would also be planned.
"I've only ever been overseas on a work trip, so we're looking forward to a family holiday," she said.
The family have been involved in fundraising events within their community in the past and would continue to give back, the winner said.
They are the 14th Powerball winners so far this year.
