are in the early morning of a calm clear day, before wind disturbs the water surface or clouds form on the peaks. From the 1950s an early-morning excursion to the lake was offered by the nearby Fox Glacier Hotel; visitors would be taken by bus to the present trailhead, and embark on a 15-minute walk through the bush, without the benefit of today's bridges and tracks. This led to a rowboat, in which they were taken out to Reflection Island to wait for the ripples to subside and the famous view to appear. The iconic view across the lake became a much-reproduced image, featured on chocolate boxes, beer bottles, calendars, and souvenirs. Lake Matheson is now one of New Zealand's most photographed lakes. Postage stamps Views of Lake Matheson have featured as part of at least five New Zealand postage stamp issues. An engraving of the view was used on a ½d stamp entitled "Peace and Tranquility", in the 1946 New Zealand "Peace" issue, to commemorate the end of World War Two. A photograph of the view was used on the 45c stamp in the 1983 "Beautiful New Zealand" scenic stamp issue. One of the six different 40c self-adhesive definitive stamps issued in 1996 in dispenser boxes in coils of 100 stamps showed a photograph of Lake Matheson. The stamp was reissued in 1998 in booklet format, and again in 2000 in coil format. A photographic view of the lake formed the background for a $3.50 miniature sheet issued by New Zealand Post in 2001 to commemorate the Philanippon '01 Japan World Stamp Exhibition. In 2012, a photograph of the lake was used on the $3.50 denomination of the scenic definitive issue, in both self-adhesive and gummed forms. Walk The area around Lake Matheson is managed as part of Westland Tai Poutini National Park by the Department of Conservation (DOC), who maintain walking tracks and access to popular viewing lookouts around the lake. An easy 2.6 km walking track circles the lake, beginning and ending at the Matheson Cafe about 5 km from Fox Glacier township. The track crosses a suspension bridge over the Clearwater River, and leads to several viewing spots, notably at the far end of the lake the "View of Views" and Reflection Island. It takes about 1½ hours return. The first 20 minutes of the walk, to the Jetty Viewpoint, is wheelchair-navigable and leads to a