Colleen Burns has relaxed her lifestyle but not her mind. Over the past three years, her family has spent most of their time cruising along Queensland's coast and berthing at various points like the Gold Coast, Gladstone, Rockhampton and The Whitsundays.

However, Colleen has managed to maintain her CQU distance education studies by directing study packs to post offices located near marinas and by using a variety of community internet links.

Her study journey began while the family was berthed at Gladstone Marina, only a stone's throw from CQU Gladstone, and she was originally enrolled as an internal campus student.

Nowadays, Colleen has managed to become more mobile thanks to a pocket email which can plug into public phones. She has even been known to borrow computer time on nearby yachts with remote internet links.

The mother of three children is studying professional communication and journalism subjects and expects to complete her degree in 2006.

She hopes to use her skills for Christian outreach projects and offer public relations support to charitable organisations such as Pacific Yacht Ministries and Coastlands Ministry helping remote island communities. The occasional submission to yachting magazines is also on the horizon.

Colleen and her husband are 'home' schooling her 11-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son (known as the boat rats). Her oldest child is living on the mainland at the moment.

So their life of leisure still has plenty of opportunities to exercise their minds.