This brings back memories for me as I grew up in a pretty isolated place. And we just also moved too (though to a great-for-kids town, and it's temporary -- so that part is quite different from your situation).

Anyways -- I'm posting to say that it often helps to break down the pain into as many multiple parts that is has.

1. The giftedness is a huge issue, which won't go away, just be dealt with. It leads to a childhood long difficulty with finding appropriate friends and there's no getting around it.

2. With a move there is also a lack of connection to anyone -- the checkout lady at the grocery store, the post office. Part of a feeling of need for a perfect friend is just basic displacement and loneliness for a community so that will get better on it's own as it turns one does get to know the adults enough to see the value in talking to them.

3. Next, obviously, you've moved to a really isolated place. It means a complete world view change in terms of how you and DD spend your moment to moment day. I recall extremely long winters spent indoors. A lot of boredom but also a lot of teaching of creativity that most suburban/city kids seem to be completely lacking (no offense intended to creative city kids out there). An isolated place is something kids do adapt to usually (less so the parents).

4. It's mid-winter. It's a awful time of year in the far north - cabin fever is a kind of loneliness. There is no getting around that but it also means that part of the lonely feeling for DD (and you I'm sure too) will go away.

So out of the 4 things I can think of just the giftedness is really there to stay for DD, the other things are eventually probably adjusted to for her.

My tips from having grown up bored in a isolated place:

Develop a interest in everything that people seem to like there: ice skating, ice fishing, the aurora, making pemmican or whatever native foods there are, indoor grow-light gardening, bingo night, curling. 4H. Go to church, even if you wouldn't usually, (or go to a different one than you might if the community there is more welcoming). Make friends with your neighbors and with their pets if you can't get one right now (offer to come over to relieve a neighbor's dogs boredom (puppy playtime) if the owner is gone all day or even just because your DD would like to). You can put your name out to do $1 an hour baby-sitting by saying you are bored and DD would love to just have another kid around. You can offer to watch the kids during a church or other organizations meetings. You could offer to volunteer at a local elementary school (Just call and say you are a bored mom new to town and would like to volunteer to read stories to K-3 kids or anything else they might like you to do). Or volunteer to help with a sunday school. (Then mention it's conditional on if they would let you bring DD as a tag along). After DD takes a class, if you marginally get along with the instructor offer to volunteer to help with older child classes if DD can tag along. Borrow things from all your neighbors, even if you don't really need to, then return the item 2fold (ie if it was flour bring them a new whole container) and bring cookies etc.

The more you fill up your days with lots of kids and activities the less DD will notice the lack of a age-mate type good friend.

It's wonderful it's not permanent, because a whole life on a small island would surely be limiting. As a few years and before formal schooling, it would be a crazy-hard adjustment but also a growth experience in the end. Kids that grow up in suburbs and cities are so cookie cutter in their experiences (again no offense intended to not-so-cookie cutter city kids out there). There is NO way after this experience your DD will not have a unique, and purely because of it's uniqueness a valuable outlook on life for the rest of her life.

Sorry that was SO long... I am long winded by nature, probably because as a child in a remote place I had nothing to do but elaborate on all my ideas. LOL. Just kidding, it's genetic, my mom talks non-stop also.

Polly