As the temperature hit 39 degrees Celsius on January 17, 2016, Rebecca Hughes and her friend sought the cool relief of the ocean.
The 14-year-olds were on a camping trip to Merry Beach at Ulladulla on the New South Wales south coast for the summer holidays.
"We decided to play on the rocks, which was a very silly decision looking back," Rebecca, now 17, said.
A freak wave hit the girls, washing both of them off the rocks and into the ocean.
As Rebecca emerged, she saw her friend floating face-down in the water.
The teenager had hit her head and been knocked unconscious.
"I was just thinking 'Oh my God, what have we done?'," Rebecca said.
"My adrenaline was up.
"She was bobbing head-down in the water and I actually thought she'd passed away."
In an act that would later earn her an award for bravery, Rebecca tried to keep her friend above water.
"I put her on my shoulder and I kept trying to thrust her out of the water and get her out as quickly as I could," she said.
Next she pulled her back towards the rock shelf and tried to push her limp body up.
"But the wave would just wash her back down onto the oysters," she said.
Eventually, Rebecca said, she did manage to get her friend and herself up onto the shelf and drag her to safety.
Another girl, who had not been swept into the ocean, ran the 10 minutes back to the campsite to alert their friend's mum.
By the time help arrived, both girls were awake and lying exhausted on the rocks.
They were taken to Milton Hospital for treatment.
"I was in shock and just lay there," Rebecca said.
"I was in pain. I had deep abrasions down the whole left side of my body.
"It was a long night."
Former principal nominated Rebecca for bravery award
Rebecca's heroic actions two years ago have now been recognised with an official Commendation for Brave Conduct.
She said she was "surprised" and "grateful" to be nominated by her former school principal.
She joins 2,100 other Australians who have been commended by the Governor-General for their brave actions since 1975. A further 1,511 have been awarded medals, including the Cross of Valour and the Star of Courage.
But Rebecca said she did not feel like a hero.
In fact she said she still felt "anxious and sad" thinking back on the events of that day.
And open water still made her heart beat faster.
"But I am really grateful that we did both get out of that alive and I feel really lucky," she said.
Rebecca's warning to others is to "really assess the situation", to keep out of harm's way.
"Think about where you are and what could actually happen — the repercussions of it — and don't do anything silly," she said.
