Thanks man, I think I understand after re-reading the PITR WAL documentation a little better. I think that I need the WAL log or logs mentioned in the .backup file.
So for example when I run the pg_start_bkup and pg_stop_backup It outputs something like this into the .backup file
START WAL LOCATION: 111/CD000020 (file 0000000200000111000000CD)
STOP WAL LOCATION: 111/CD0000A8 (file 0000000200000111000000CD)
CHECKPOINT LOCATION: 111/CD000020
BACKUP METHOD: pg_start_backup
BACKUP FROM: master
START TIME: 2014-08-02 01:15:10 CDT
LABEL: master_backup
STOP TIME: 2014-08-02 01:16:34 CDT
This means that in ordrt to restore this base backup I need the contents of the base backup and this WAL log 0000000200000111000000CD, is that correct?
If so I can reference the latest .backup file in the pg_xlog directory for the base backup.. I think thi is how it works.
Thanks
Jimmy