Crikey, this one's a natural

Guy Wilkinson stays at a Fraser Island resort given the Steve Irwin tick for ecotourism.

It's as I'm signing in that I notice the glass jar on the reception counter. "Acanthophis antarcticus - death adder - highly venomous," the label reads. I turn the jar around out of morbid curiosity only to leap back in horror. Coiled in preservative liquid is a black-and-white striped snake, its puffy face staring back at me. Beside it sits a smaller jar with the label, "Hadronyche infensa - Fraser Island funnel web spider."

They may no longer be living but can't these things normally kill you with a single bite? Noting my astonishment, the receptionist flashes me a look of considerable mirth.

I continue filling out the rest of my details in a poor effort to seem unfazed. Behind me, a sizeable wall-mounted TV screen plays David Attenborough films.

"The bottle-nose dolphin," whispers Attenborough, "possesses elongated upper and lower jaws giving it a distinctive, beak-like snout."

Just what kind of a hotel is this, I'm beginning to wonder.

From the outset, it's clear that Fraser Island's award-winning resort is different.

On arrival, there is no velvet-suited bellboy scurrying to collect my bags. There is no fawning maitre d', squeaking his way across a marble floor to offer assistance.

But whatever is lacking in the way of small luxuries is more than compensated for with rustic charm.

Kingfisher Bay prides itself on being an environmentally friendly resort, and it does it so well that it won the inaugural Steve Irwin award for ecotourism in 2006. The entire complex has been specifically engineered to minimise effects on the environment.

As well as being waste conscious, the resort also strives to conserve energy wherever possible.

Among forest-covered dunes on the edge of the island's Great Sandy Straight, the hotel's labyrinth of rooms are mostly located off an expansive tiered wooden walkway. This can be a little confusing at first glance, but once you find your bearings there's no denying the place is something special.

The reception area is a mix of polished wooden floors and lush plant life twisting up towards the natural light which pours in through the glass roof.

Down the main stairs are the hotel's major restaurants, the Seabelle and Maheno (the latter named after the famous shipwreck on Fraser's eastern beach).

The Seabelle offers a delightfully varied alacarte menu, drawing inspiration from traditional Australian bush tucker. The food is well prepared and quite reasonably priced (about $25 to $45 for a main). Guests get the bonus of watching the chefs at work from behind a semi-circular cooking area within the restaurant.