Two friends have raised about £2,000 after shadowing the tyre tracks of Mr Bond around Europe.

Georgie Shelley and Voirrey Kennaugh, who went under the team name of ’Never Say Never’, completed the challenging James Bond Swiss Run - Fireball Rally to raise funds for charities Hospice Isle of Man and Rebecca House.

Over four days, they travelled more than 2,500 miles through France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy, Austria, Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium in their car decorated in Manx stickers.

Along the way they spotted iconic views featured in the Bond films - such as the Verzasca Dam from GoldenEye and the Furka Pass in Goldfinger.

Georgie called the rally ’an adventure that [she’ll] never forget’, adding: ’It was hard at times but we knew this was an endurance event for charity, and not a leisurely sight-seeing tour,’ she said.

Voirrey added: ’It was exhausting, but so much fun!’

She listed one of her highlights as watching Georgie bungee jumping off the GoldenEye dam. ’She was so determined and actually really went for it,’ she said.

’A personal highlight was driving up the Stelvio Pass (Top Gear’s favourite road) and seeing the view from the top. We made it to the top in bottom gear!

experience

’Another was meeting such a fun-loving group of people who were all ready to help each other and all making the most of the experience whilst raising money for their chosen charities too.’

Voirrey called their VW Golf ’a great car to drive’, which helped them to see a range of places and terrains.

Georgie said her highlights included ’the reward of camping on the shore of beautiful Lake Geneva after the first long day driving 460 miles’.

’The Furka Pass in the Swiss Alps and the Stelvio Pass in Italy were my driving highlights,’ she continued. ’I’d seen photos and videos but nothing can prepare you for actually driving it.

’Switzerland was so lovely with the picture postcard villages with wooden houses and the cattle wearing their bells - sometimes very near the road.

’Doing the bungee jump at the Verzasca Dam Switzerland, 220 metres was an added extra. I’d never intended to do it but then I thought "why not". I’d never done one before, and also it felt within the spirit of the James Bond inspired rally.’

The pair came across a number of diversions on the roads which meant they arrived at their campsites later than planned.

Voirrey said: ’Somehow we kept finding diversions at the end of each day! It even happened both nights after we finished the rally on our way back home.

’I could not believe it after Georgie dropped me off in Onchan and then texted to say Richmond Hill was closed and she had been diverted again on her final stint home.

’That kind of summed up the experience - testing, tiring but finding so much to laugh about along the way.’

They would both recommend the experience.

’If anyone asks about doing it I would simply say yes do it, definitely do it, but don’t expect to fit in time for visiting all the places of interest,’ Voirrey said.

’To do that you would never sleep. We learned to pick our places to aim for and made sacrifices to get there, like sleep. My Fitbit told me my average sleep for the four nights was just 5 hours 21 minutes.

’I feel like the Manx flag we put on the car aerial - well frayed but we made it to the end of a fantastic experience.’

Both would like to thank their families, friends and colleagues who have supported and sponsored them.

Georgie added: ’Thanks to sponsors including the Steam Packet for supporting us with travel costs, Sure and Utopia Hair Salon for supporting us with raffle prizes, Quayside Tyre and Service Centre for their help with the car and thanks also to Sean at Edwin Dennis for the car decals and Isle of Man Newspapers for their support and interest.’

See www.justgiving.com/fundraising/georgie-shelley