You may get some flexibility depending on the carrier involved, I would try giving Air NZ a call as the potential change would be on Air NZ and they have gone on record of offering flexibility on SARS and the War in Iraq - as per their website.
You will not be able to route via South Africa, as no *A carrier flies from S/Africa to Australia, you'll need to go via SIN on SQ.
Suggest you go CDG-NRT on NH, then on NZ NRT-AKL then connect straight through to NZ AKL-BNE. Ensuring that you don't max out your miles going this way. Suggest you try giving Air NZ a call in the US. Unfortunately i've lost their 800 number there but a search on their website should help
http://www.airnz.com
If that doesn't help, give UA a call... and see what happens :-)
[This message has been edited by kawoh (edited 04-26-2003).]