Two years ago, the Keating family spent Christmas at coastal golfing destinations Te Arai and Tara Iti, just outside Mangawhai, where the singer performed a private acoustic concert.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just ridiculous. The surf is awesome, the sand dunes, the golf obviously, I mean, that\u2019s why we were there,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s this particular hole [at Tara Iti], and there\u2019s a sand dune where the wind is just constantly blowing the sand. It\u2019s almost like something from a film.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keating has close family connections to New Zealand. His Australian wife Storm\u2019s mum is Kiwi and the family stayed at Te Arai Links for the Christmas trip, with two houses side by side on the golf course.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m 50 next year and part of my wish list, which I\u2019ve dropped with Storm, is that we go back to Tara Iti and Te Arai and have a knock, because it\u2019s just heavenly. The place is incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prego in Ponsonby. Photo \/ Babiche Martens<\/p>\n
Favourite place to eat<\/p>\n
Keating can\u2019t go past Ponsonby for a great meal out.<\/p>\n
\u201cA friend of mine lent me his house down that way, and we spent a few days there last year,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
As soon as he mentions one of his favourites is the \u201cItalian place with the white wall around it\u201d, we click that it\u2019s Prego.<\/p>\n
\u201cPrego! Yes mate, smashed it. Prego\u2019s a good little spot, I pop in there every time. I brought the kids the last time Storm and I were there, and Storm\u2019s mum. We all spent about three or four nights in the area and went into Prego.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keating admits he\u2019s a \u201cbit of a coffee snob\u201d and Ponsonby hits the mark, no matter where you get a brew.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpending my time in Australia [filming The X-Factor], I realised how important good coffee is,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI downloaded all the different coffee apps, and anywhere you go in the world, the best coffee shops in the world are owned by Kiwis or Australians.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keating says he used to drink oat milk cappuccinos but has started avoiding dairy and milk alternatives, becoming a long black drinker instead.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have our La Marzocco [coffee machines], anywhere we go in the world. We\u2019re very lucky we have a home in Dubai, a home in Sydney, a home in London, and we have our La Marzocco machines in all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
He doesn\u2019t discount Wellington for a good brew either.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, there must be more coffee shops than people in Wellington.\u201d<\/p>\n
The singer and his eldest son Jack. Photo \/ Instagram @ronankeating<\/p>\n
Favourite New Zealand night out<\/p>\n
Speaking of Wellington, for his rugby-mad son Jack\u2019s 18th birthday, Keating organised a trip to New Zealand to follow the Lions tour.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe knew the boys from the Hurricanes, the Barretts, so we popped down there, and we had a night in Wellington, watched a \u2018Canes game [at Hnry Stadium], and had a night out with the lads,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe finished when the sun came up, I remember that. Julian [Savea] was celebrating his 100th game, his 100th cap with the Canes, so it was a brilliant night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silo Park. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Favourite family friendly place<\/p>\n
As a dad of five, Keating often brings his family while on tour.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2019, we went down to Silo Park in Auckland. It\u2019s got the playground, but it\u2019s also got this water feature, where the kids run through the water, and the water jumps up in the air. Anyway, Cooper [now 9] lost it, he just had the best time,\u201d Keating says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a really great little atmosphere. There were great restaurants, and I did a show that night [at Spark Arena] with the boys \u2013 it was the Boyzone show.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keating laughs, remembering the location well because he was snapped by paparazzi while they were there.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are these photos of me, Storm, and Coops running around in this little playground.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ronan Keating was a huge hit at the Mission Concert. Photo \/ Warren Buckland<\/p>\n
Favourite venue to perform<\/p>\n
Keating has performed all over New Zealand and struggles to pick a favourite.<\/p>\n
But he says whatever stage he\u2019s on, Kiwi crowds are always some of his favourites.<\/p>\n
He loves \u201cthe people and vibes\u201d in Wellington, performing multiple times at TSB Arena and remembers a \u201creally great night\u201d at the Mission Estate Winery concert in Napier.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s also Villa Maria by the Auckland Airport. I played there 20 years ago, and that was an amazing night, the atmosphere there was bloody brilliant.\u201d<\/p>\n
Keating paid tribute to Cantabrians, having performed a headline set at Selwyn Sounds festival last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a great crowd, it was the cruisiest vibe, the sun was setting. It was a really cool atmosphere. You guys know how to chill out, relax and enjoy life, so I always enjoy coming back to New Zealand to perform.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mudbrick Vineyard and Restaurant. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
Favourite \u2018must-do\u2019 activity<\/p>\n
Besides our golf courses, Keating says every tourist should check out our world-class vineyards.<\/p>\n
\u201cCentral Otago pinot noirs that are coming out are the best in the world. Anywhere I go in the world, I\u2019ll order a Central Otago pinot,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, going around, getting dropped off, having lunch in the vineyards, having dinners, going on wine tours, it\u2019s just magical.\u201d<\/p>\n
He has a soft spot for Waiheke Island, with the now Michelin-starred Mudbrick a top contender for a great day out.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a great lunch there,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Ronan Keating\u2019s Just Getting Started World Tour plays Wolfbrook Arena, Christchurch, on March 16 and Auckland\u2019s Spark Arena on March 18. Tickets from ticketmaster.co.nz<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two years ago, the Keating family spent Christmas at coastal golfing destinations Te Arai and Tara Iti, just…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":619245,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[5263,8136,36979,156,71,18126,228,18792,62036,132845,304854,13840,5158,117,111,139,11550,69,3111,10538,50484,312,1954,4625,33913,223,61,274,1754,102,80],"class_list":["post-619244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-all","tag-blacks","tag-drink","tag-entertainment","tag-from","tag-golf","tag-guide","tag-irish","tag-iti","tag-keating","tag-keatings","tag-like","tag-man","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nights","tag-nz","tag-out","tag-play","tag-ronan","tag-says","tag-simple","tag-singer","tag-tara","tag-the","tag-to","tag-travel","tag-wine","tag-with","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=619244"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619244\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/619245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=619244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=619244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=619244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}