In the tight-knit community of Murwillumbah in northern New South Wales it did not take long to find the mysterious "two blokes in a tinnie" who rescued families from flooded homes.
But as more details about their efforts come to light, it is clear that Chad and Josh Curtis deserve more than a few cold beers as recognition for their heroics.
In fact, members of the Murwillumbah community, on behalf of those rescued, have given the brothers "free beer for a year".
"We had no other option, to us, that's just the way we were brought up," carpenter Josh Curtis said.
'Dark, desperate, nowhere to go'
At the worst of the floods last week, Brett Bugg's home was underwater, destroying most of his family's belongings.
Mr Bugg said the experience was terrifying as it was "getting dark, you're getting desperate, there's nowhere to go".
Realising they needed help, Mr Bugg started "yelling pretty hard".
"We heard the motor and went 'that's not a car, that's a boat going up the road'," he said.
"We couldn't get the SES ... and within five minutes the boys turned up, it was just one of those accidents of history that saved our butts.
"The boat went right up on the verandah and we were able to jump in."
Baby and elderly among those saved
Mr Bugg and his family were among the many that Chad and Josh Curtis rescued in Tumbulgum and Murwillumbah.
Experienced boaties with their own tinnie, Josh Curtis said he and his brother had seen "a lot of people on Facebook that needed help".
"We thought, why not, we'd go give it a crack," he said.
They first travelled south from their homes in Terranora to Tumbulgum.
But with the flooded Tweed River "ripping pretty hard", the pair then took their tinnie down down the flooded Tweed Valley Way to Murwillumbah.
"We took the boat up the highway, bit of a novelty for us," Josh said.
After rescuing a family of four and an elderly woman, Josh and Chad found Mr Bugg and his wife Leanne, and took them safely to higher ground as the sun set.
'Adrift in cane fields'
But moments after the rescue, the tinnie hit a log.
"We snapped the throttle cable," Josh said.
They paddled the tinnie to a nearby inundated petrol station to repair it but the cable "was snapped right through".
"So we spent the night in Murwillumbah [with family friends]," he said.
The next morning, Josh said they began paddling back home to Terranora but "forgot about Condong bridge" across the Tweed River.
"It was just higher than what the boat was to get underneath there," Josh said.
"By the time we got on the river, we had no other option and there was debris piled up against it."
With the space between the bridge and the flooded river perilously close, Josh told Chad to "aim for the gap".
"We paddled as hard as we could, then lay down on the boat and just went underneath."
The search begins
Speaking to the ABC on Monday, Mr Bugg still had no idea who the "two blokes in a tinnie" were.
"They probably saved our lives," he said at the time.
Chad and Josh's relatives later reached out to the ABC on social media, and they were put in touch with Mr Bugg.
"We've worked out with some local companies here, everyone wants to do their bit," Mr Bugg said.
"We've got you free beer for year and we've got you free fuel for year ... and other bits and pieces from everyone in town.
"It's not just from me, it's from everyone you've rescued."
Josh said he and his brother "didn't expect anything".
"I don't know what to say, honestly," he said.
But Mr Bugg said neither Chad nor Josh had been "expected to go out and help so many people".
"What you did for us, we can't repay," he said.
While there's still a lot of work to do, all three plan to go on a fishing trip when the flood clean-up is over.
