While nothing may seem to be more typically English than a spot of Cornish clotted cream, Newquay, on Cornwall’s Atlantic coast, with its endless sandy beaches and focus on surfing, has a distinctly Australian flavour.

Within hours of landing at Newquay airport — only 45 minutes from Gatwick — I became blasé about the barefoot wetsuited figures padding along the road, giving the town a slightly surreal Home and Away feel.

Newquay attracts its fair share of second-home buyers, though they tend to be City boys with a weekend surf habit rather than the Range Rover-and-retriever set that congregates on the nearby Rock to Padstow ferry. A glut of new apartment blocks catering to the urban surfer market was stopped in its tracks last year by the credit crunch, with the average price of a flat falling from £236,940 in the last quarter of 2008 to £172,786 in the first quarter this year, when there were only seven completed sales.

Since March, however, the price has risen to £218,279 and the sales rate has doubled, according to the property website upmystreet.com. This is largely because of fat rental returns to be made on letting one’s studio-sized “surfpod”.

The main shopping street is dominated by surfing and beachwear shops — perfect if you, like me, manage to arrive without the prerequisite flip-flops. There are also the usual high street names as well as souvenir shops and gaming arcades. Veer towards the sea and it is easy to see why students are drawn to Newquay — bars and clubs dominate and the town attracts stag and hen parties.

The views from the many vantage points in the town are mesmerising, not least the sight of the House in the Sea, a two-storey property that would be unremarkable if it were not for the fact that it is perched, alone, atop a 70ft rock, which emerges from the sea and is linked to the mainland by only a small suspension bridge. It is run as a luxury bed and breakfast for more adventurous travellers.

I stayed farther out of town next to Fistral Bay, the famous Newquay beach. It is about a 15-minute walk from the centre of town along the main road, or about half an hour along the beautiful coastland path that passes the stunning stone harbour.

Taking a tip from a local, I walked farther along the coastal path on to the Lewinnick Lodge, a wonderful pub and restaurant perched on the headland, with endless views of the sea. The fresh seafood was delicious.

Fistral beach is enormous and perfect for surfing as the flat surface of the beach means that the water is always relatively shallow. This was explained to me by my surf instructor Frances, from the Hibiscus Surf School. I was lucky to get individual tuition, as the scariest thing about learning to surf is the thought of hitting or being hit by another beginner. Luckily, Frances was on hand to keep me out of the path of serious and learner surfers alike.

The most noticeable thing about Fistral Bay, apart from the lines of parked camper vans, with surfing accoutrements hanging from almost everywhere, is the contrast in architecture.

The two main hotels, the Bay and the Esplanade, while funky inside, are flat-roofed, and only a couple of storeys high and, like many of the buildings in Newquay, give off a Seventies retro vibe. However, many of the shiny, high-rise new-build glass apartments near by are still unoccupied.

Fistral, without a Tesco Metro or a Starbucks in sight, also has a retro feel, but it is easy to see why city-dwellers would want to secure a bolt hole in this corner of England. The stunning views and the draw of the waves are a powerful combination, and Newquay surely calls out to the inner surfer dude in all of us.

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