Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says he did not take up Prime Minister Julia Gillard's invitation to visit Australian troops in Afghanistan because he did not want to turn up "jet-lagged" to the British Conservative Party conference.

While Ms Gillard spent the day after her secret diversion to Afghanistan in back-to-back meetings with 11 world leaders including French President Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Mr Abbott said he wanted to "make the most" of his chance to meet his Tory counterparts.

Asked by the ABC in Birmingham why he did not simply fly on to Britain as Ms Gillard had done with her Brussels trip he said: " I thought it was important to do this trip justice. I didn't want to get here in a jet-lagged condition so I'm in a position to make the most of this opportunity."

However, Ms Gillard said that she managed to sleep "very well last night" and would "let Mr Abbott work out his own sleeping patterns".