It's been another horror day on the roads in Marlborough after a second fatal crash involving a van and a truck - just 30 kilometres away from Sunday's accident which claimed the lives of seven people.
That crash happened at around 7:30am, just south of Picton, as the family were heading north to catch the ferry across the Cook Strait.
And Monday afternoon, a second crash killed one person - understood to be the driver of a van - and left a truck driver in hospital with serious injuries. It happened at an intersection on State Highway 6, just west of Blenheim.
Two tragedies in just two days. It's heartbreaking for the families, but also for the local communities and emergency services.
The small reminders of what was lost, as family belongings were strewn across the road where seven members of one family died.
"They spent some of their last hours on earth with me on Saturday night and this was a vibrant family," said Bill, a family friend of the victims.
The family of nine had travelled from their home in Pukekohe in Auckland to Gore for the funeral of a close relative.
They documented their journey, posting it on social media.
And on Saturday night they were making their way home, travelling up the South Island and stopping in at friend Bill's place in Canterbury.
"I'd suggested 'why don't you stay and have a bit more sleep' but my friend said 'no we are okay, we'll just make our way slowly up to Picton and maybe have a couple of hours sleep when we get there and wait for the ferry'," Bill said.
But they didn’t make it to the ferry.
The van collided with a truck just south of Picton and police have confirmed the van driver was one of the seven dead.
Three generations of one family, including a baby were killed in an instant. Police say the two survivors remain in serious conditions at Wellington Hospital.
The stretch of highway where this happened has reopened and traffic is slowly moving through, but the scars of what happened here remain littered along the road.
Police say early indications suggest the van crossed the centre line.
Locals and road safety advocates want to see improvements.
"People are going to make mistakes. The cars and roads need to change so that the simple mistakes don't end up as fatalities," road safety campaigner Clive Matthew-Wilson said.
Waka Kotahi and police are investigating with a focus on finding any safety improvements that can be made to the stretch of road.
Prior to Sunday's crash, five people have died on the road from Blenheim to Picton since 2012.
Waka Kotahi was already assessing the 100km speed limit.
"If you look at those poor people who died down in Picton, they weren't reckless drivers, they weren't hoons. They were just ordinary people who made a very simple mistake and paid for it with their lives," Matthew-Wilson said.
"It's up to the Government to make sure the roads can forgive simple mistakes."
Despite the fact the family weren't from the area, the Marlborough community are still reeling.
"When we have a tragedy like this it doesn't matter where in New Zealand it occurs, we all have a real sense of loss," Marlborough Mayor John Leggett said.
And late this afternoon, another fatal - with similar circumstances - not far away.
Two tragedies in two days.
