A friend of the seven people killed in a horror crash near Picton has spoken of spending the night with them in Christchurch before they made the fateful drive to return home.

"You spend every spare moment thinking of the what-ifs and the whys," said Bill, who contacted Newstalk ZB this morning.

Three generations of the Auckland family, which includes members of the Filipino community, died in the crash. Bill revealed what they did when they came to stay with him on Saturday night.

"They spent some of their last hours on earth with me on Saturday night, Sunday morning," Bill told NewstalkZB Canterbury Mornings host John MacDonald.

"This was a vibrant family - my friend was a high school teacher ... his wife started an online business and he was really proud of her.

"They had four boys and girls ... One of the boys had married a Taiwanese young lady and it was their baby that died.

"I was really taken with this young woman, she was so nice and it really hits home at my heart that she's gone and the baby's gone.

"Her husband survived … he's going to wake up and find that he's now alone."

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