The year has gotten going with a blast for a neighborhood Rotorua man who asserted a groundbreaking $8.5 million Powerball prize at Lotto NZ's Head Office today. The man, who wishes to stay mysterious, watched the live draw the previous evening and realized he was New Zealand's freshest multimillionaire when Powerball number 7 was drawn. "I've been playing similar numbers since Lotto began, and I generally watch the draw or record it," the man said. "I was scratching off my numbers of course, and when the fifth and 6th balls came out, well that is at the point when my heart truly began to race. "At that point I was simply petitioning God for the Powerball to be 7, and when it was, I was so stunned. You never trust it's really going to occur," he said. "I felt numb, however my prompt idea was that I expected to call somebody." The man called his girl to share the uplifting news, however she didn't trust him from the outset. "She continue