It's heartbreaking to see what has happened, both in terms of land destroyed and the appalling loss of life. Eileen and I know the Peloponesse well – we love it and its people. A local boat-owner in Stoupa on the Mani peninsular sailed down to below Aeropolis and reported that the land is just black. Of course the land will regenerate but the problem is that it mainly consists of olive groves and these will take at least 3 years before they can be harvested, so it's going to be tough for the locals.

Regarding the deliberate fire-starting – I read on another site that someone was arrested with incendiary devices in their car. They said they had been paid 1800 euros to start fires. Whether the story is true or not remains to be seen. Some of the fire-fighters were also saying that fires were starting in the middle of the night – certainly sounds suspicious. Of course the property developers are throwing up their hands and claiming innocence, but it does seem a strange coincidence that the main areas of destruction (Peloponesse, Evia, and land around Athens) just happen to be places considered to be 'property hotspots'.

We are off to Greece in a couple of weeks, to the Pelion, which thankfully has been unaffected. It will be interesting to judge the mood of the people.

We hope George Papavgeris' family are OK – could you let us know George?

Dave & Eileen.