Following the disbanding of the Defence Force in 1866 and the opening up of the goldfields at Thames, Charles and his wife, Mary Ann moved to Karaka Hill, Shortland, Thames. He purchased the Duke of Edinburgh goldmine but was later led into speculating and lost heavily. By 1875, having discovered his father's address he sailed to Australia where they reunited after an absence of forty years. He was taken ill with bronchitis which proved fatal and was buried in the Tower Hill cemetery at Koroit near Warrnambool. Mary Ann Pye died at her son-in-law's home at Mangere on 31 December 1900 and is buried at the Mangere cemetery with her daughter and grandchildren. The farming locality of Pyes Pa, south of Tauranga, is named after him.