hehe. It's nice to know you guys don't mind paying retail for these bits
I get the boosters below half-retail and the batteries about 1/4... So that makes it a bit easier on the pocket. The solar panels however will remain expensive.

I took a drive up the hill yesterday to take photos of the kinda coverage I could get from someone's house up that road, if I asked nicely.
If I can get a roofspace, I can probably get power too for a few $ a month... But I'm still considering solar hidden up in the bushes somewhere. There's lots and lots of transmitter towers up there, and all the poles look pretty full. I'm a bit worried some ISM-band transmitters might be up there already, but none of them looked like home-made access points.

If you wanna have a look at the shots, they're here:
http://www.fishy.net.nz/gallery/wireless
The first page is from my roof, and the Wrights Hill gallery is up the hill a bit.

Thanks for your input guys.... Keep it coming