The first Lotto winner of the year says he plans to use the money to get a foot onto the property ladder and set himself up for the future.
Scooping up $1 million on Saturday, the winner, who is based in Wellington, said when he read that the Lotto First Division prize had been struck in his city, he had a "strange feeling".
The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, told Lotto his first thought was to calm down, telling himself "it's probably not me".
Having routinely purchased his Lotto tickets online on Saturday afternoon, he hadn't contemplated how quickly his life was about to change.
"I was at home on Saturday night when I read online that someone from Wellington had won First Division,'' the winner explained.
"I don't know what it was, but I just had a strange feeling when I saw that - but then I thought, 'calm down, it's probably not me'."
Sitting down with his partner, he checked his Lotto tickets on his phone, watching as the numbers were circled.
"We sat there staring at my phone and realised pretty quickly that a whole row of numbers was circled off on one of my tickets," he said.
The win was confirmed when a message popped up, telling him he'd won a major prize. Feeling "a bit breathless", the winner said he thought he may have won a few thousand dollars, or perhaps second division.
"But when I saw I'd won $1 million, I felt faint in that moment - in a good way," he said.
The couple said they celebrated with a big hug before sharing the news.
"When we finally got to bed, both my partner and I had a pretty restless night - we could still hardly believe it and couldn't stop thinking about how much our lives were about to change."
The winner told Lotto he is looking forward to getting a foot on the property ladder and setting himself up for the future.
"I plan to celebrate properly soon. And coincidentally, my birthday is coming up so I certainly have a lot to celebrate now," he added.
Lotto's next draw is on Wednesday, when a Powerball jackpot prize of $12 million is up for grabs. The Lotto First Division prize is $1 million.
The odds of winning Lotto First Division are one in 3.8 million, or one in 38.3 million for Lotto Powerball.
