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Australian Man Wins Island Resort With $49 Raffle Ticket

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A $49 raffle ticket made an Australian man the proud owner of a Pacific island resort on Tuesday.

The man, identified only as Joshua from New South Wales, won the Kosrae Nautilus Resort on an island in Micronesia, CNN reported.

The couple who owned the 16-room resort, Doug and Sally Beitz, chose to it turn over to a new owner through a raffle, instead of giving it to the highest bidder, with the goal of finding an owner who would care about the island and its ecosystem, according to CNN. The couple is leaving the island and returning to the Australian mainland to be closer to their grandchildren.

“Your life is about to change in a very special way,” Doug Beitz said before the drawing, as a word of advice to the soon-to-be winner.

 

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Write to Katie Reilly at Katie.Reilly@time.com