Glad you're OK. File it away in the 'experiences' bit of your flying brain. I'm still wet behind the ears as a pilot but I think in that situation I would have just kept heading downwind until I saw the no 1. If I still hadn't seen him I would have gone out of cct and done another join. Mind you, you would have hopefully have heard a 'Final' call from him by that time.
Easy to say sitting in a chair on the ground though, I remember my first few post solo trips (only last year) and you're maxed out without having to worry about runway changes. I was downwind no2 the other day and it was a grey, claggy, crap day and I couldn't pick up no 1 (mil a/c with matt grey camouflage doing a straight in approach), I flew past my normal base turn point and asked ATC for his position, 'On the runway' they replied. I looked and I still couldn't see him.