As much as I love Canberra the one thing I do not like about it, is the tacky Telstra Tower that looms over the city no matter where you go:

No matter how many times I look at it, the Telstra Tower just does not blend in with the rest of the city. Anyway the Telstra Tower sits on top of Black Mountain and rises from the mountain for a heigth of 195 meters, so it is a fairly large tower:

Despite its heigth, I can’t even recommend it for its views because it is expensive and you can get similar views from the lookouts on other mountains around the city. For example here is a view of the city from Black Mountain just below the tower:

Forgive the grayness of the picture but it was raining when I drove up to the top of Black Mountain the day I took these pictures. Anyway there a few trees in the picture, but overall not a bad view of the city. You can see the National Museum on the peninsula at the bottom of the picture and the Captain Cook Fountain shooting up water in Lake Burley-Griffin. The mountains of Namadgi National Park can be made out in the distant horizon.

Here is a close up look of the Parliament House:

If you got the money go for it and take a trip up the tower but as you can see, similar views are available on the mountain without paying the cost.

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