Air: Fly to Queenstown and either hire a car at the airport or use one of the local shuttle bus/coach services to get to Wanaka. There are also connecting flights direct to Wanaka airport. Queenstown Airport is a 50 minutes drive (65 kms) across the Crown Range.
Self Drive: Queenstown (103 km) is approximately 1.25 hours drive from Wanaka if you follow the main State Hiway. The shortest route to Wanaka is over the Crown Range Road, however it's a challenging drive. Allow at least 6.5 hours from Christchurch (424 km), 3.5 hours from Dunedin (276 km), and 4hours from the West Coast (Franz Josef glacier 287 km), plus any additional time desired for stops. In winter, road conditions should be checked before travelling to the Wanaka region.
Coach: There are several companies that have nation-wide network that includes scheduled services to Wanaka. There are also a number of smaller companies operating shuttle services to and from this region. There are regular shuttle services from Queenstown and Christchurch.