Incredible pictures show the stark difference between Byron Bay now and almost four decades ago when it was still a working class area. Until 1983, the town on the NSW far north coast had an abattoir next to its main beach, with the smell of carcasses off-putting to potential tourists. The ABC has aired historic footage from its old Countrywide TV program showing meat workers finishing a shift shortly before the employer closed its doors for good. Just two decades before that, in the early 1960s, Byron Bay was a whaling station where offal next door to the abattoir was pumped into the ocean, attracting hoards of sharks.