A quiet Himalayan mountain village springs to life for a colourful Buddhist festival designed to expel evil spirits and bring happiness. The annual Torgya Festival in Tawang, in north-eastern India, is full of colourful dancing, music and theatre. The three day festival is held in the courtyard of the Tawang monastery, which is nestled on top of the hill overlooking the town. The vibrant event was attended by Australian photographers Stephen Axford and Catherine Marciniak.
A diver looks like a minnow as she swims alongside a gigantic whale shark, the largest species of fish on the planet .
Swimming side by side with divers, these manatees will do anything they can to stay warm .
SHOVELLING food into his mouth, this hungry gorilla enjoys a peaceful moment at dinner time .
WEARING tiny Christmas accessories, these adorable babies get into the spirit of the season .
WRAPPED up in classy headscarves, these adorable pooches are the picture of sophistication .
Splashing around in the water, a mother otter and her son are tangled in a family feud .
It’s a role reversal in the Visayan Sea as HUNDREDS of tiny, glistening eggs are carried around inside the mouth of their cardinalfish father .
A lazy otter finds the ideal spot to soak up the sun and sleep off his lunch .
A BIKINI swim with jellyfish sounds like the most painful past-time on the planet .
Balanced on one leg, a frog assumes the crane kick martial arts stance made famous in the movie The Karate Kid .
JUDGE BLASTED FOR LETTING PAEDO WALK FREE A PERVERT who sexually assaulted two young girls on an allotment, telling them he was brushing spiders off them, has walked free from court – because jailing him was ‘unfair’ on his family .
MOUTH OPEN wide, this little stoat appears to be in mid-song as he belts out a tune for his onlookers .