Stephen Colbert remembers visiting New Zealand, on top of the glacier he sends a message to his younger self

American TV presenter Stephen Colbert renewed his romance with New Zealand by releasing an episode of his talk show with new footage of his trip to Aotearoa in 2019.

The last episode of the Late Show with Stephen Colbert includes a number of clips about his journey.

Colbert is making a trek through Memory Lane to a time when he could still travel to the country he described as “a magical land where the hugs still happen.”

In one of the clips, filmed during his travels around the South Island at the end of 2019, Colbert finds himself atop a glacier in New Zealand.

“Flooded with gratitude,” he said he wished he could share the moment with an old friend.

With no other friends around, and “having just made three shots of the bourbon,” he decides to send a message to his young self.

The comedian drew laughter with the clip but his message was also touching.

“There were times during my visit that I had to remind myself of my good luck,” he told the audience before the footage was released.

“Just in case we invented time machines, I want this little message to be sent now in a capsule to myself when I was 29 years old and had a nervous breakdown about choosing to be a living,” he began.

“It will be fine. You did nothing wrong by not going to law school. Everything will work out. You will do things with your friends like go to New Zealand and do it,” he added, referring to the majestic scenery surrounding him.

“Don’t panic, get off the sofa, your skin is not on fire.”

Once the clip was over, in his studio, Colbert decided to send another message, this time to his “slightly younger self” who traveled to New Zealand last year.

“If I can send a message to that slightly younger version of me as of the end of 2019, I will say: don’t leave New Zealand,” he says.

“They figure out how to contain this thing that will start spreading around the world in about a month’s time. I know you don’t know what I’m talking about and it sounds crazy but believe me: buy toilet paper.”

The talk show host, and Lord of the Rings fanatic, spent six days in the country last October filming The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, which averaged 3 million views for the episode.

A spokesperson for tourism in New Zealand said the idea for Colbert to visit New Zealand first came in September 2018, before Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern appeared on his show.