Init7 gets there in 15, they reach AARNet directly from their presence in LAX, however it still takes ~310ms to reach NSW.
Init7's traceroute [0] shows 5 fewer steps to r1lon2.core.init7.net than my traceroute though and appears to route through r1bsl1 (assuming Basel) instead of Frankfurt.
Perhaps you're in/near Basel and so skip straight to London, circumventing my 8 hops around Zurich?