It's a point in history that has diverse meanings for Anglo and Aboriginal people.

Cook's private log shows that on May 10, 1770 he took note of "a small clump of an island lying close inshore" during "gentle breezes and clear weather".

That clump was what we now call Nobbys and Whibaygamba.

Newcastle history buff Suzanne Martin said Captain Cook didn't stop in Newcastle, but kept sailing north.

"He noted the coordinates. He had left Botany Bay and was going to the top of Australia," Ms Martin said.

"He kept going up the coast and then the ship ran aground when it hit coral [on the Great Barrier Reef]."

Cook claimed the entire east coast of the great southern land for Great Britain by raising a flag at Possession Island in Queensland.

University of Newcastle Professor of Indigenous Education and Research John Maynard said "Cook unleashed cataclysmic consequences upon Aboriginal people of the Australian continent".

"At its height, the Aboriginal population would teeter on near complete annihilation through disease, warfare and severe government policies," he said.

"I recognise that it would be completely unrealistic to think that we would have remained immune to outside invasion and its impact, even if James Cook had not stepped ashore in 1770."

Professor Maynard said he went on board the Endeavour replica at the Australian National Maritime Museum at Darling Harbour in 2014.

"I was struck by what an achievement it was to sail such a tiny craft across such a vast distance and through some terrifying seas," he said.

He noted that Cook had received secret instructions from the British Admiralty and, as such, from the Crown itself.

If he found the mythical continent, he was to "chart its coasts, obtain information about its people, cultivate their friendship and alliance and appropriate any convenient trading posts in the King's name".

"But clearly Cook did not open up any meaningful dialogue or discussion, nor did he gain any consent in claiming the entire east coast of the continent," he said.

In October, Peter FitzSimons released his book, James Cook: The Story Behind the Man who Mapped the World.

"He wasn't, for me, an imperialist. He was certainly an instrument of the empire," he said, at the book launch.

FitzSimons has written that Cook "rose from extremely humble beginnings through hard work and technical excellence to be the foremost explorer of his age".

University of Newcastle conjoint lecturer Stephen Gapps wrote in The Conversation that Cook's voyages were "part of a European drive to conquer".

"The aim was to claim resources and trade in support of the British Empire's expansion," Dr Gapps wrote.

As for Ms Martin, she noted how different Nobbys was today from when Cook first glimpsed it through a telescope.

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