as thing says don't turn parallel with the high ground that is producing the updraft unless you want to remain feeling at the least uncomfortable. Obviously what you did is the correct thing given how you felt at the time, I am not at all familiar with the geography of where you were and what was around you in terms of high ground downwind but if you wanted to continue there may have been a couple of options.
Given that you had a decent sink rate and turbulence would suggest that you were on the breaking side of the wave, if you had adjusted heading towards the high ground you may well have found the rising air on the upwind side of the rotor. You could then have adjusted track to parallel the high ground, throttled back and enjoyed surfing along the smooth part of the wave. The second option would have been turn away from the high ground and found the uplift further downwind as the wave came back up again.
As has been suggested already the best thing to do would be to go flying with someone who is experienced in reading the signs and knowing where to look and go for the safe routes.
Happy flying.