3 weeks itinerary

Hi Loan, if you are concerned about airfare costs, you may be on a tighter budget so I'll make suggestions accordingly.

First off, have a look at a flight finder, webjet.com.au I find good enough and others use a number of others, all doing the same thing and a couple of things you will find is airfares between Melbourne and Sydney can be had for less than $100 and so depending on what an open jaw international flight cost is as compared to in/out at Sydney, it may be cheaper to fly back to Sydney.

You ought to also then check what the cost of flights between say Brisbane and Uluru and Adelaide or Melbourne is for Brisbane to Melbourne or Adelaide flights are also available at around $100.

So to keep costs down, I'd do the following:
. Fly Sydney to Brisbane
. Catch a train to Bundaberg or Gladstone and from those two locations you do either of Lady Musgrave or Heron Islands on southern end of the Great Barrier Reef ( you do not need to travel all the way to Cairns which some people think they need to and in fact what with coral bleaching and cyclone damage, the reff in the south may be better.
There is also Lady Elliot Island but significantly more expensive.
. Depending on what the cost of flights are for Uluru , it may be cheaper to fly from Bundaberg or Gladstone down to Melbourne or Adelaide and fly to Uluru from there ( just compare costs ).
. Uluru back to Adelaide and you can then fly or take a bus/ferry across to Kangaroo Island and back to Adelaide.
. If you have not done Melbourne on your way to Uluru, fly Adelaide to Melbourne and then it is either on back to Sydney or home.

21 days is a reasonable amount of time to do what you want.

Hi Travoyageur
I did not make my question clear ! i mean international air fare from Montreal to Sydney both way or open jaw from Montreal to Sydney then from Melbourne to Montreal which way is cheaper .
I dont mind domestic airfare , of course i ll try to find the best price according to your suggestion
But if domestic air fare is not a problem , is there any way i can do
Sydney , Brisbane , Reef , Urulu ( Can i fly from Cairn or Port Douglas or South of the Reef like you suggest to Urulu ?) Adelaide , Melbourne ? like that i dont have to back track too much then from Melbourne back to Montreal ( or have to go back to Sydney to fly back to montreal depend on international air fare )
Thank you

Hi Ioan
Yep, certainly if fares are not an issue, you can fly from either Cairns or Brisbane to Uluru, then on to Adelaide to do Kangaroo Island and then from Adelaide to Melbourne and/or Sydney.

Put your departure/arrival points into www.webjet.com.au and you will get flight options with prices and then on making your selections, I'd just book direct with the particular airlines you choose.

Thanks very much for your feed back , other travellers has been saying that 21 days are too short and tight for my 6 places: Sydney , Brisbane , Reef, Urulu, Adelaide, Melbourne ?

It's always a case of allocating time against what your priorities are whatever time you have available.
For instance, it could be possible to use up a week in Sydney alone and then another week for a few areas a bit further afield and then even more if you took a road touring approach to your travels.

But in nominating that you want to fly and limiting yourself to closer attractions and not doing beaches so much, I'd reckon you will get a reasonable look by something like:
. Arrive Sydney ( recuperate from jetlag ), best approach in my book is to adjust as much as possible to Sydney time prior to departure and in getting some sleep on the flight and then keep yourself up until at least mid evening on your first day doing easy stuff like a walk around The Rocks/Opera House/Botanical Gardens and catching a ferry across to Manly or over Rose Bay for a bit more walking about.
You'll sleep well and then just continue on the second day.
. Allowing for a day trip up to the Blue Mountains - Sydney for 4 days.
. Brisbane - GBR say another 4- 6 days depending on where you fly to.
. Uluru - including flight day - 3 days
Make sure you have some lighter lose fit cotton for it'll still be warm during the day out there and get yourself a broad brim hat and fly net.
. Adelaide/Kangaroo Island - 4 days
. Melbourne - 4-5 days.
Melbourne has heaps of winery options too, even more closer than what Adelaide has and depending on what times you make the flights ( you can get earlier morning ones ), you might want to adjust the days a bit, maybe another one or two for Sydney for instance, but really depends on what you want to see.

But I would have a detailed look at what the various locations have that will appeal and allocate time accordingly.
You will find a few sites that list the top 10, 20, 50 or even 100 attractions for the different cities.

I think your suggestion is the closest of what i have in mind about how much time to spend at each place include travelling time
One more question about where is the best spot for the reef (i know you suggest south of the reef , Heron island , Lady Musgrave ) but for some one that never did snorkeling ?
Thank you

I reckon for the best experience I'd fly to Gladstone ( and look at doing that direct from Sydney, though could be a stop at Brisbane ) and go to Heron Island - http://www.heronisland.com/Special-Offers-and-Packages_1333.aspx#top-carousel . They are showing bed and breakfast packages for $165/h, an inclusive meal deal is an extra $67 and pick up from the airport and boat trip is $64 each way so say if you stayed two nights, you are looking at $600 pp from airport back to airport which is not so bad with accommodation and meals included.

You do pay fees for snorkelling gear hire, about $20/d and if you want a stinger/wet suit that is probably about another $30/d but in May you are past the stinger season (they usually in closer to coast waters ) and weather/water should be fine without a suit.

You can snorkel there from off the shore and snorkeling does come pretty easy, especially if you already swim or just even can hold your breath and float face down - natural buoyancy in salt water pretty good so it is just really a case of having your mask fitting well ( they do not need to be such a tight fit), spitting in them and then rinsing them to help stop fogging and then with the snorkel, just getting the feel for chomping on the mouth piece and your lips doing the sealing. If you want to dive, you just have to hold your breath but keep enough to clear the snorkel of water when you come up with that last sharp blast of air.

They also offer a lesson which is probably well worthwhile if you want to get the best of doing their snorkelling trip via boat.

By comparison, a one day trip to Lady Musgrave is going to set you back about $200+ per day by the time you get a transfer from Bundaberg Airport and you will only get about 5-6 hours on the island as against stopping overnight and then you still have to get accommodation and meals.

If you wanted to allow for 4 days, you could compare Heron Island with the Lady Elliot/ Fraser Island combo package - http://www.ladyelliot.com.au/content/packages#reef-rain - that is more money again but then you are getting four nights accommodation and most meals included with the bonus of visiting Fraser Island.

You could do just one or two nights at Lady Elliot, their overnight rate for two people including breakfast and dinner being about $350 but the cost of flights to and from the island is $310pp so that is not a huge lot more at $660 pp on a two night basis, that difference about what you may find the difference in airfare between Bundaberg/Hervey Bay or Gladstone to Brisbane is.
On top of that, at Lady Elliot snorkelling gear is free to use and you get a glass bottom boat trip as well.

Thank s Travoyageur for your your info , very details and helpful! i ll certainly looking into that !

I live in Brisbane and I love my city. I would recommend no more than 3 nights here, though. The other locations on your itinerary are much more interesting from a tourist standpoint :-)