Taranaki pair win $200,000

A Taranaki couple’s spur-of-themoment decision to buy a Lotto ticket paid off - to the tune of $200,000.

The winners, who live in Stratford, won Lotto First Division in last Wednesday’s live Lotto draw, sharing the jackpot with four other winners from Waihi, Lower Hutt, Masterton and Auckland.

The winning ticket was bought online through MyLotto.

‘‘I can’t even remember what I was doing now,’’ said the winner, who has asked to remain anonymous.

‘‘But for some reason, on Wednesday night, not long before the draw closed, I hopped online and bought a ticket. I remember thinking ‘why not?’.’’

When she checked online later that night she was shocked to see a whole row of Lotto numbers circled.

‘‘I called my husband to come into the room and said ‘Oh my God, we’ve just won Lotto!’

‘‘He took a few steps back and just couldn’t believe it. Even the next day he was thinking someone would call us up and say it was a joke.’’

The couple are still getting their heads around their win but have been quick putting their winning plans into action.

‘‘We’ve already been to the bank to pay off our mortgage. Other than that, we can finally think about the South Island trip we’ve always wanted to do.’’