The woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, had travelled to Sydney with her young daughter for a Lady Gaga show.
Two days after the gig, on Sunday, the pair were relaxing at a packed Bondi Beach when they heard what they thought were fireworks.
Then the screams began.
People were running, shouting of an "active shooter".
"You just don’t know what to do, where to go. It’s just terrifying.
"It’s just something your worst nightmares are made of. [You] go through this moment of ‘is this actually real?’."
The gunmen have been named as 24-year-old Naveed Akram, who is in hospital, and his father Sajid Akram, 50, who was shot dead by police.
The attack has been called an act of terror and widely acknowledged as driven by anti-Semitism, after the pair targeted people celebrating a Jewish festival.
Yesterday it was confirmed the shooters killed 15 (including a 10-year-old girl) and injured 42.
Another New Zealander caught up in the shootings said dozens of people rushed into the restaurant where her family was dining and started diving under tables; too shocked to explain what was happening.
Donna Corbel was dining with her husband, her two adult children, who now live in Sydney, and one of their partners.
She said they made the split-second decision to run for it.
"We were just having dinner ... then next minute, hundreds, maybe thousands of people swarming off the beach. It was just unbelievable.
"We didn’t discuss anything; we just ran and left everything.
"We were literally running for our lives."
Mrs Corbel found out later that they had been within 40m of the two gunmen.
In the wake of the shootings, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese proposed "tougher gun laws".
"The government is prepared to take whatever action is necessary. Included in that is the need for tougher gun laws," Mr Albanese said after police confirmed one of the assailants was licensed to hold six firearms.
Australian officials described it as a targeted, anti-Semitic terror attack.
Authorities said far more people would have been killed were it not for a bystander, identified by local media as fruit shop owner Ahmed al-Ahmed, 43, who was filmed charging a gunman from behind, grappling with him and wresting a rifle from his hands.
On this side of the Tasman, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the attack "appears to have been an act of anti-Semitism in all its ugliness and cruelty".
"I join every world leader in utterly condemning the perpetrators and those who encouraged, supported or fostered them.
"Australia and New Zealand are closer than friends, we are family - and when something like this happens to our family we feel it all deeply."
Hanukkah should be a time of peace and joy, not pain and grief.
"We stand in solidarity with the people of the Jewish faith in Australia, New Zealand and all around the world.
"Terrorism and hate have no place in our societies: violence of any kind is unacceptable whether it is targeted at people of Jewish or any other faith.
"We all need to call out intolerance where we see it.
"There is room in this world for everyone to live side by side at peace."
Mr Luxon said police had been working with Jewish communities in New Zealand and there would be additional police presence, including additional patrols at sites of significant Jewish worship around New Zealand.
"The terrorism threat level around New Zealand remains the same, which is that a terrorist attack is a realistic possibility.
"The threat level is continually assessed, as you know, and can change at any time."
People would be feeling shaken and concerned by what had happened, "so let’s all continue to look after each other especially our Australian and Jewish friends at this time".
The Dunedin mother said when the chaos unfolded, she and her daughter joined others by sprinting from the scene.
"We ran to the street and kept going. We left our gear behind."
She felt lucky she had not seen anyone who had been seriously injured, but the coverage of the aftermath had been impossible to avoid.
"We cried most of the night, feeling sick, emotionally exhausted.
"This will have a lasting impact."
— Additional reporting RNZ
