Rosemary Margaret Lamb (54) was the only passenger in a grey Ford Falcon which left the road and rolled 3km south of Luggate just before 6pm on Sunday.
Her 62-year-old partner, understood to be Cardrona Valley farmer Jamie Robertson, was driving the car, which was travelling north on State Highway 6.
A close friend of Mrs Lamb, who asked not to be named, believed Mrs Lamb had moved to Wanaka about seven or eight years ago.
Before that, she had been living on a station near Timaru and was originally from Southland.
She has two sons, aged in their 20s, and a teenage daughter, who is starting university this year.
The friend said Mrs Lamb was trained as a teacher - although had not worked as one since moving to Wanaka - and had only just started a new job working for a local accommodation provider.
She had been a popular member of the Wanaka Tennis Club for several years.
''She loved her tennis, really loved her tennis, and she loved her garden and her children. She loved life, actually,'' the friend said.
''She just saw the funny side of everything. She had the most amazing laugh.
''She's just a really bright, bubbly, fun person to have around ... I couldn't imagine how anybody wouldn't like her. She's just a fun girl.''
The friend said Mrs Lamb always took the many jokes about her name in good humour.
''She always laughed away. She never took offence or anything, she was just quite delightful.''
Wanaka Tennis Club committee member Stephen May said Mrs Lamb was ''absolutely passionate about tennis'' and ''called a spade a spade''.
''There was never a cross word with Rosemary ... she was a lovely person. She was the funnest lady.''
Sergeant Aaron Nicholson, of Wanaka police, said the vehicle involved in the crash had been travelling towards Wanaka and was negotiating a slight left-hand bend when it ''flipped end over end'', then rolled about 40m to its final resting spot in long grass on the opposite side of the road.
Police Serious Crash Investigation Unit staff examined the crash scene yesterday morning and police were also awaiting the results of blood alcohol tests on the driver, which was standard practice in any vehicle accident, Sgt Nicholson said.
The outcome of the crash investigation would be known in a ''week or two''.
''It's too early to speculate on the cause.
''We haven't had a chance to interview the driver because he's still in hospital,'' Snr Sgt Nicholson said.
A Dunedin Hospital spokeswoman said Mr Robertson remained stable in a serious condition in intensive care yesterday afternoon.
St John Central Otago territory manager Kelvin Perriman said Mr Robertson had sustained serious head, chest and back injuries in the crash, including possible spinal fractures.
