The good folks at STA found me a way to stop in Japan on the way to Australia. It's different airlines for each leg - always cool ones (like JetStar from Tokyo to Melbourne via Gold Coast!) - and it minimizes my carbon footprint (even more if you could see it on a sphere, and yes, I've already purchased carbon offset for its 22,000 miles). While cheaper than the alternatives it's still my most expensive flying travel ever. I can always hope the US$ rises a little in value before I set forth on 27 July!