By 1852 Rowe's business activities were in difficulties and he left Cheltenham for the Australian goldfields in June where he spent about seven years. He arrived at the Bendigo gold diggings in 1853 and his eldest son George joined him in November. In 1854 he was joined by his two younger sons Thomas and Sandford. He was not successful as prospector, nor as a shopkeeper at Long Gully, Bendigo, but found success in Australia by creating water colours of the Bendigo and Castlemaine gold diggings. His works were exhibited at Bendigo in 1857, and in 1858 he created a well known panoramic View of the City of Melbourne from the Observatory. He returned to Britain in 1858 or 1859 and settled in Exeter where he prepared a series of views of Australia and Tasmania for which he won a gold medal at the London 1862 International Exhibition.
