His legs are on fire from the stinging nettle he walked through, petting the resident emu.

As Seth runs to find water, his camp buddy Liam yells, "Don't scratch it! You'll make it worse!", but anyone who's ever had an itch knows that's preposterous advice.

It itches whether you scratch or not.

For the families involved in this week-long Country Hope camp at Bowna, talking about and living with illness and disability is kind of like an itch.

You might not think it's taking its toll at first, but the pressure builds with each test, treatment and conversation.

At a certain point it becomes unbearable, but what people say will help often doesn't.

Each year between 50 and 70 children attend the Time Out For Life camp. It's open to seven-to sixteen-year-olds who have been diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses and their siblings.

Looking at the group this Tuesday afternoon, the only thing that sets them apart from other school holidayers is their branded camp shirts.

They're giddy with laughter. Breathless from a game of cricket. Preoccupied with hitting that archery target.

Many are preparing for the night's disco, courtesy of Steve Bowen.

Last year the disco theme was Harry Potter. It was the best thing ever for Ella, 11, who can name all of the Deathly Hallows symbols and more.

"This year it's a Circus theme," she says, her face freshly painted by camp buddy Rachel.

As the sun seeps a bit lower into Lake Hume, the 45 camp buddies are rounding up their little friends for tea.

Camp co-ordinator Jo says they're going into Albury tomorrow for a swim and to see the Flying Fruit Fly Circus.

"The whole idea of the week is to take their mind off things," she says.

"We have our main locations in Wagga, Albury and Griffith, but we support families from Hay right across to Boorowa, then North up to Jindabyne and South down to Wangaratta.

"We have volunteer medics, and we've had cases where the doctors in Sydney have said to families, 'You can't go home, but you can go to camp', because they know we've got the medical team here.

"The camp is entirely volunteer-run."

One of those volunteers is Ged (there is a long-standing media policy that we stay on a first-name basis).

"I've been doing this since it started in 2003," he says.

"It was originally Camp Quality, but it was decided that just having camps wasn't enough and we started up ourselves.

"Kids around here often have to go to Sydney or Melbourne.

"Families need a lot more support."

As Ged says this, the smell of barbecues at work spreads throughout the resort.

The face-painting is quickly packed away and by 6.04pm every camper is seated for dinner.

The group listen to a couple announcements - the bus is leaving at 8.30am, and there will be a surprise at the Wodonga Leisure Centre - and Seth chats to Liam about his mum coming to visit.

Having just turned 18, this camp was the first Liam was eligible to volunteer for.

"I didn't really know much about Country Hope before I applied," he said.

"I like giving back to the community and it's a break for their families.

"It's been good getting to know the kids."

As an uncle, the Wagga teenager is no stranger to minding younger kids, but thinking about the additional needs of the campers was something that took a bit of adjusting.

"You have to be careful - you can't just tell them to brush it off - you need to think about their medical needs," he says.

Liam was quick to get cream for Seth's rash earlier in the afternoon, but that pesky stinging nettle is the furthest thing from the youngster's mind as mum Alisa arrives.

Seth and his sister Charlotte, Alisa says, were invited to the Time Out For Life Camp in 2017 and 2018, but it was too far away from home for them to feel comfortable going.

"The last camp was in Wagga, but with it being in Albury this year, it was a chance for them to go," she says.

"The fact Seth is here all-day, everyday having fun, it helps him learn it's OK to be away from mum and dad and that's huge.

"I'm hoping enjoying this will make school a bit easier next term, because he'll know he can be away from home."

It's not hard to imagine why Seth finds it difficult to be away from mum - he has been poked and prodded by so many strange people since being diagnosed with juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma three years ago.

"He's off treatment after 12 months of chemotherapy and stable at the moment ," Alisa says.

"At the moment we monitor, but he'll be monitored forever because his brain tumour is inoperable.

"It's only since he's been stable that we've been able to get back to some sort of normal life, but it's a normal life with that in the back of your head, with constant worry and fear.

"We're off to Melbourne next week for scans and check-ups - we can be down there once a month."

It was in Melbourne that Alisa's family experienced one of Country Hope's signature supports.

"I'd spent every cent we had because we'd been stuck in Melbourne, and went to go home and the car wouldn't start," she said.

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"Normally I'd know what to do, but I was so overwhelmed I totally broke down.

"I rang my worker at Country Hope, and they said 'Don't worry about it, I'll get it sorted', and they rang RACV, paid for the battery, and we got home.

"There's things like that and the grocery cards they give you.

"And sometimes it even means so much to get a call."

So many of these volunteers involved with the Time Out For Life Camp get it, because they've lived it - many buddies are former campers who have, and still do, fight their own battles with chronic illness.

They've learned how to keep moving when you think 'It can't get any worse' ... and then it does.

"We fall in heaps and put doonas over our heads and cry, and the kids come home from school and you take the doona off your head and get up and get going," Alisa says.

"You have to, because if they see you cry they worry, and they worry enough.

"The whole thing was just really overwhelming for a very long time.

"But with these people, you can ring them on a bad day and let it all out, and they will listen.

"They get it and it just makes it a little bit easier."

This night, Seth will go home with mum.

But as soon as he wakes, he'll be nagging to return - and maybe next year things will be different.